Path to Transcendence

As Julius headed back to the training rooms, his attention was caught by someone staring at his back intensely.

While he had become used to people looking at him lately, most of them were unknown or stared at him mainly out of curiosity. This stare, however, felt much more purposeful.

It made sense as well since it was coming from someone he was well aware of.

His cousin, Tristan, stood off to the side with his friends and stared at Julius with a mix of disbelief and confusion.

Julius already knew the moment he saw that expression that Tristan finally recognized him. He closed his eyes and grimaced as he thought about the potential shitstorm that might happen now that Tristan knew.

Honestly, he had been half expecting it to have already happened by now. But after months of his cousin not recognizing his face, even when they were in the same Intro to Mana class, he had convinced himself that Tristan didn't remember him.

Unfortunately, that had come to an end.

The first thought that popped into his head was to simply eliminate Tristan as a problem, but he quickly swatted that thought aside.

He frowned at himself. He was beginning to realize that his thoughts had been leaning toward the more violent side of things lately. Something he didn't think was a good thing. His first thought should not immediately leap toward killing the problem, especially if that person was his cousin.

Was it possible that his aura skill was affecting his mind? Or was it just a natural progression as he adapted to this more violent world? Whatever it was, he had to make sure that he kept it in check.

He slowed his walk as he considered what to do. He could always ignore it and let things play out, but then he started to think about how bad things might get if Tristan reported this to his father.

Julius still didn't know if Tristan was involved in the coup at the estate. He didn't want to believe it, but he had to face the facts. The timing of his and his father's departure was way too suspicious to be a mere coincidence.

They had decided to leave so early to explore the city, as his father, Frederick, had mentioned. If you asked Julius, it was awfully convenient.

However, it was hard to imagine that Samuel and the other traitors had informed Tristan of their plan. The other boy was only a Tier 2 and would likely be a liability rather than helpful.

Frederick, though, seemed more likely to know that something was going to happen. Even if he didn't know the exact plan, Julius found it unlikely that he didn't know.

This was why ignoring Tristan could be a bad idea. What if he contacted his father and told him that Julius was alive? He suspected that if that happened, it would complicate his current situation beyond what it already was.

However, his decision was made for him as he observed Tristan head right toward him, excusing himself from his friends. Julius turned to look at his cousin, and they made eye contact for a brief moment. He could see the many questions that Tristan had from looking at his face.

Julius nodded toward the garden area behind the buildings, indicating that they should be somewhere more private for the upcoming conversation. Tristan nodded back, and the two of them quickly walked away from the crowd.

When he finally found a place where he didn't sense anyone in the vicinity, he sat down on a rock and waited for Tristan to arrive.

"So it is you…" He heard accusingly from his cousin the moment he walked into the glade.

For a moment Julius thought about lying, but he didn't see how that might help him out at the moment. For all he knew, Tristan would still tell his father that he had come across him. More importantly, this might be his best chance at finding out what happened at the estate.

"Yeah, it's me," he confirmed.

"How are you alive?" Tristan asked with confusion and anxiousness evident in his voice.

"What? No welcome back?" Julius joked, trying to ease the obvious tension in the air.

"You think this is funny?" Tristan asked bitterly.

"A little bit; I mean, we have been in the same class ever since the beginning of the year, and you never noticed me then," Julius said to him.

"We only met that one time, and you don't exactly look or act the same," Tristan argued. "Also, it seems that you recognized me well enough. Which means you could have told me a long time ago."

Julius shrugged. "I didn't think it was a good idea at the time."

"What do you mean by that?" Tristan asked with a frown.

"I mean, you said it yourself. You didn't think I was alive."

"Nobody did, and you still haven't told me how you managed that," Tristan pointed out.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

"Why did you think I was dead? What were you told?" Julius asked.

Tristan shook his finger at Julius. "No, no, you can't just all of a sudden start demanding answers from me. You could have let me know you survived almost a year ago. You are going to answer some of my questions first. For example, what happened that night?"

Julius looked at Tristan intently and extended his aura to wrap around the other boy. He didn't particularly care about showing him his ruinous aura, but he still kept it in check.

"You really don't know what happened?" Julius asked, getting a sense of the other boy's emotions. Unfortunately, he had an aura item on, which made it harder to accomplish. But Julius had learned a few tricks from Lily and managed to sneak through the gaps of the aura item's defenses to get some information.

Tristan swallowed nervously as he undoubtedly felt the oppressive and destructive nature of Julius's aura, but he still answered.

"What are you talking about? Nobody really knows what happened. We only know that some other House attacked the estate and killed the Patriarch along with some of the Elders. You were supposed to be one of them, too."

Julius squeezed his aura a little bit tighter, partly out of anger at being reminded that Lukas had died and also because he was trying to see if Tristan was sincere in his answer. Eventually, Julius released his aura, letting the other boy breathe more easily. As far as he could tell, Tristan was being truthful and believed what he was saying. Which just further proved his previous theory that Tristan was just as in the dark as he was.

Still, that didn't make him happy to hear it.

"Who told you that another House attacked House Hyperius and killed Lukas?" Julius finally asked darkly.

"My father told me. But I saw the damage with my own eyes. The entire estate was practically destroyed. Several Elders and staff died fighting off the attackers."

Yeah, more like Lukas took a bunch of the traitorous shitstains with him, Julius thought with a sardonic smile.

"Do you know who your father said attacked us?"

"No, he said that the bodies we recovered were unidentifiable. That it was likely one of the neighboring region Houses, taking advantage of House Hyperius's weakened state after the recent monster flood."

Julius nodded. That was even more suspicious. But at least he knew who was behind it. However, he wasn't going to be telling Tristan that, not when his father was potentially a part of the plan.

"You still haven't answered how you managed to live," Tristan said to him again, but this time, Julius noticed that he wasn't as demanding as he had been moments ago. Julius's aura must have unnerved him.

"I escaped through a teleportation circle." Julius didn't see a reason to hide that piece of information. The people who had attacked him should have already shared that information.

"What about the people who attacked? Do you know who they were?" Tristan asked hopefully.

He shook his head. "No, I wasn't able to figure out who they were, I was too busy running for my life," he lied shamelessly.

Tristan nodded sadly. "I am just glad that at least someone made it out alive. I will have to let my father know the good news."

Julius winced. "Yeah, about that…"

"What? Is something the matter?" Tristan asked, concerned at his words.

"Please don't tell anyone, not even your father, that I survived."

Tristan looked very confused. "What do you mean? Why not?"

Julius took a deep breath and decided to take the chance.

"Lukas was very sure that there was a traitor in House Hyperius. Otherwise, they would not have been able to break through the defenses of the estate so easily. I don't know if those people are still around, and if they get word that I survived, I don't think they are going to let me live in peace," he explained carefully.

"But my father could help you. I promise you that he wouldn't tell anyone if I asked him not to," Tristan said confidently.

Julius shook his head. He didn't want to call out Frederick as a traitor in front of his son, so he had to be smart about how he was going to convince Tristan so he didn't share that Julius was alive with anyone.

"I'm sorry, but please keep this to yourself. I am sure that you believe that your father is trustworthy, but I can't take that chance. At least not yet, maybe when we figure out what happened, we can share the news, but for now, let's keep it our little secret," Julius said.

He could tell that Tristan wanted to continue arguing, but the other boy stayed silent for a bit as he took everything in.

Eventually, Tristan nodded defeatedly. "Okay, I understand where you are coming from. I won't tell anyone until you are ready, at least not for now. Fair?"

Julius smiled gratefully. "I appreciate it."

***

Tristan POV

He didn't know how to feel at the moment. For almost the past year, he had been distressed at the fact that his House had been attacked. Their Patriarch and their only real hope of recovering to the heights House Hyperius had been at before all the problems was dead.

However, now he just discovered that Julius was alive.

The only reason he had recognized Julius was because his father had just been talking about the day they left the estate for Heston the other week and he randomly remembered the weird boy he had met.

He didn't make the connection between him and the person who the students were gossiping about until he saw him in person. He was much taller and had lost the baby fat in his face, but he could still barely recognize those eerie black eyes and dark, ashy hair.

He would keep his promise not to tell anyone about Julius for now, but it still felt wrong. His father would have really wanted to know that information.

However, he understood Julius's situation, and while he didn't tell the younger boy, he had been having similar thoughts that there were traitors in House Hyperius as well.

He would never admit this to Julius, but he had questioned the timing of his departure from the estate. At first, he had been grateful that he hadn't been around for the attack, but as time went by, he began feeling suspicious of the timing.

He didn't want to ever think that his father knew about the attack, but the timing was too damn suspicious even to him. That was another reason he agreed to Julius's request, though he would never say that out loud.

Tristan also couldn't help but belatedly realize that since Julius was the nephew of the previous Patriarch, he might be considered the next rightful heir of House Hyperius. That was a staggering realization.

One that would change a lot of things and give even more credence to Julius's worries about keeping his survival a secret. If there were traitors in House Hyperius, they would not like to hear that Julius was alive, especially when Patriarch Lukas had basically adopted the boy a couple of years ago. Some might take this information as proof of Julius's right of inheritance.

For now, Tristan would stay quiet and at least let the tournament blow over before he made any rash decisions. But he couldn't help but grin as well. Because if even half of the things the school had been rumoring about Julius's talents were true, then perhaps House Hyperius had some hope.