Path to Transcendence

It felt weird as he got up and prepared for class. Something just didn't seem right about being gone for as long as he had and suddenly showing up in class like nothing had happened.

What was he supposed to say to the other students if they asked him? The truth? Or just ignore them? He kind of liked that last option, though he wasn't sure how well that would work out for him.

He suspected that students would be very persistent.

He had tried to convince the others that not going to class was a better option, but they convinced him otherwise.

Henry had already left for the day, which was surprising because it was really early for the other boy. However, he suspected that it was more because he wanted to avoid Julius and any awkwardness that might come with seeing him again in the morning after their little chat last night.

***

When he arrived at his Physical Training class, he spotted Joshua and James walking onto the large field.

However, James must have noticed something because he turned to look directly at Julius.

For a moment, Joshua's face was a mixture of confusion and disbelief. Then he realized what he was seeing and immediately started shaking Joshua furiously by the shoulder.

Joshua seemed annoyed by the sudden assault and was about to reproach James, but he looked over to where his friend was pointing animatedly.

There was no hesitation; Joshua took off at an impressive burst of speed and was instantly in front of Julius.

He didn't even get a word out before Joshua started to talk quickly.

"I can't believe it! I heard from people this morning that the princess had returned to Goldencrest, but they didn't mention if you had! I am so glad that you are alive and safe," the boy said with genuine relief in his voice. He gripped Julius by the shoulders and shook him just like James had shaken him moments earlier.

James, being the mindful one, pried Joshua's fingers from him.

"He has been worried about you the entire time you have been missing. I mean, the entire team has been, but Joshua has been particularly worried. He had his family send people to go and search for you," James said to him in a whisper.

"Don't pretend like you weren't really worried either."

James ignored him and grinned at Julius. "I'm really happy to see you safe and sound."

Julius looked down at the ground and smiled. "Thanks, you guys. How have you and the others been since I have been gone?"

James nodded proudly. "Honestly, we have all made some incredible progress. Joshua, Tia, and Polux have both stood out in our class as some of the best first years."

Julius frowned. "What about you and Nessa? You don't consider yourselves that way?"

James laughed. "Nah, we aren't combat specialists. We are definitely toward the top of the class, but the other three have a clear advantage over most of the other students. I would say only a handful of first-years can even match them anymore. Although, I am sure that you have gotten stronger than any of us."

He looked over at James with confusion. "Why would you think that?"

James gave him a knowing grin. "I mean Polux might have told us about how you were hiding some of your abilities," the boy said with a look toward Joshua.

I thought he promised that he wouldn't say anything, he thought to himself with a grimace.

Joshua appeared to see his expression and put his hands up to calm him. "He mainly did it because we were so worried that you would die. But he kept up telling us that he believed you would be absolutely fine. We badgered him about why he was so confident and he finally had to tell us that you were much stronger than you ever let on. He said that you were even stronger than Helen and possibly the princess."

Julius still shook his head. To be honest, it wasn't like he really minded that much. After the whole incident and spending some time away from Goldencrest, his view on things had changed.

He realized that he wasn't as worried about hiding his abilities or his strength. He had reached a point where it wasn't worth the effort.

He was now Tier 3 with a Special Emblem to boot. Which meant he was already decently close to advancing to Tier 4. Plus, he was able to fight against Tier 4s and win. With that kind of power, he didn't feel as fragile anymore. While he knew that he wouldn't be able to handle a Tier 5 or a really powerful Tier 4, the fact remained that there weren't a lot of people like that out there.

He also shouldn't be too worried about House Greyson hunting him down for the House Hyperius stuff, because objectively speaking, his stunt with the caravan would put a much larger spotlight on him. If they were coming after him, it would be because of that.

"I'm still going to punch his face in," he said quietly to them.

"I think he might be glad to take it when he sees that you're back," Joshua said with a big grin.

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"Speaking of that, how did you find out that the princess returned? We only got back last evening."

"I heard some of the students talking with each other this morning as I was walking to class. Apparently, they spotted a bunch of professors and random people last night and figured things out."

"Do you think that I am going to be getting a lot of attention? Or do you think it will mainly be on her?" He asked, kind of dreading to hear the answer.

"Oh yeah, you are definitely going to be getting a lot of attention," James said bluntly, laughing a bit after he told Julius that.

"At least, it won't be as bad as the kind of attention the princess will be getting. I bet she won't even be able to leave her room without people hounding her," Joshua added with a small grin as well.

He nodded his head in defeat. He had expected something like that when he returned. Reinera was too high-profile, and since he had disappeared alongside her, he would inevitably receive some of that attention as well.

Joshua gave him a sympathetic hand on the shoulder. "Either way, I am glad that you are back. We missed you."

***

The two of them were right. By the time his next class rolled around, a good number of students were staring at him very intensely.

It would appear that rumors traveled fast in a school like this because people who he had seen but who had never approached him before, were now staring at him like he owed them lunch money or something.

He doubted they even knew his name, perhaps some of them only knew him as the person who got his ass kicked during Applied Combat class by weak monsters.

Halfway through his day, it felt like everyone and their mother knew about him. As he sat through Intro to Mana, he felt over a couple dozen gazes pressed into the back of his skull.

[Spatial Perception] just made it worse and he had to turn it off momentarily because otherwise, he wouldn't be able to concentrate very well. The only thing that made it not so bad, was the fact that people were hesitant to come up to him.

When Applied Combat rolled around, he was even more glad because he witnessed firsthand Reinera getting swarmed by practically half of the students before class had started.

Professor Rowe had to yell in order to get the class to calm down and be quiet.

He shared an apologetic smile with Reinera who had thrown him a desperate look, pleading for help. He dutifully ignored her like the good friend he was.

He hadn't been able to talk to her since they went their separate ways yesterday, so he didn't know how her discussion with Amelia and her family went. However, considering that she was still here, he assumed that it went okay. If it had gone bad, he suspected that they would have pulled her out of Goldencrest and taken her back to the Capital.

He was surprised they didn't do it anyway but glad they chose not to. Or maybe she had convinced them to allow her to stay. He didn't know what had happened, but they had promised to talk to each other tonight.

A part of him wanted to go over and talk to her. Given the circumstances, pretending that they didn't know each other no longer made sense.

They had both returned at the same time, so people might already assume that they had been together wherever they had been.

Actually, now that he was thinking about it, it was really quite silly. They were friends for goodness sake. It wasn't like he wasn't already friends with people of notoriety. Hell, Lily and Derek on their own were scions of the very powerful Houses. Even Edgar, Aubrey, and Kyle were quite well-known in their own right.

So with a shake of his head, he made his decision.

***

After class ended, he was beset by several students. He suspected that these people were the ones who realized that bothering the princess was a fruitless endeavor, and if they wanted to satisfy their curiosity, he would be a much easier target.

Unfortunately for them, he didn't give a shit. So before any of them could stop him and pester him with questions, he could see they desperately wanted to ask, he was already brushing by them.

His direction took him straight to Reinera, who was being mobbed by other students.

He saw that she was in full princess mode and didn't look the least bit ruffled by the loud clamoring of voices.

"Oh my god, when I heard what had happened, I was so sad! I am so relieved to see that you are okay."

"Can you tell us what happened?"

"Where have you been for these past months?"

"It must have been so terrifying. If you want to talk with anyone, I am here for you."

"Do you want to eat lunch together?"

He chuckled as students did their best to either find out what happened or to take this opportunity to get closer to her. He didn't exactly blame some of them either.

She was a princess after all and getting closer to her would probably be a good thing for their Houses.

With that being said, he could tell that she wasn't enjoying all of this. While her outward demeanor showed that she was fine, the time spent with her let him realize the truth. He could tell that she was feeling overwhelmed and uncomfortable.

She was pinching her fingers together so tightly that he almost thought she would draw blood.

This was the exact reason why he started to bump and shove his way through the crowd. He was shocked at how difficult it was and had to resort to activating his enhancement skill to jostle some of the more aggressive students out of the way.

The fact that they were only Tier 2 made this surprisingly easy once he used his skill.

When he finally fought his way to the center, he spotted her surrounded by a lot of people. The ones closest to her were the people that he had seen around her prior to their disappearance.

He had no idea what their names were, but he knew from talking with her that many of them were simply opportunistic people who cared more about the status of being associated with her than about knowing her.

Which made him feel less bad about stepping up and shoving people away.

A group of them turned around and started to berate him, but he continued to ignore them all. He didn't care about them, and he had only one thing on his mind.

Out of my way, I am trying to save a princess here. He thought to himself amusingly.

He finally latched his hand on her wrist and started to drag her away before she even realized what was happening. He felt her start to freak out a little bit, as she had no idea who was grabbing her so roughly.

However, when she looked at the person who had grabbed her, she completely relaxed. He saw her give him a look of relief and gratitude, but that look quickly turned into one of confusion. They had talked about keeping some distance for the time being until they figured things out.

So when he saw her questioning look, he merely gave her a shrug in return which earned him the first genuine smile he had seen from her yet.

She untensed her arms, simply allowed him to drag her away. Luckily for him, he knew that she was less delicate than most people would initially think. Her improvements to her body skills, along with her advancement, made her quite the sturdy person.

This allowed him to shove their way through the crowd, and he almost successfully completed his snatch and grab when he was obstructed.

A guy who was a part of the group that had hung out with Reinera chased after them and grabbed his shoulders very harshly.