Path to Transcendence

He didn't know if he was happy or annoyed that the third and final round of the tournament started the day after tomorrow.

For one, it was nice that it wasn't going to be drawn out like he had expected. But he also wished that he had more time to relax before the finals began. Or rather, more time to experiment with some of his skills.

He had a lot of skills he wanted to work on. That didn't even include the other stuff he needed to do as well. Skills weren't the only thing he had to worry about to advance and get stronger.

He needed to split his focus between Concept development and Emblem enhancement. Additionally, he needed to improve his aura and mana control in general.

He had a lot on his plate, and he could start to see why people took so long advancing to Tier 4 from Tier 3.

Even more so, if you wanted the best chance to advance and still have a solid foundation, a lot needed to be done.

Thankfully, he had an idea on how he wanted to improve all of those aspects, the problem lied in finding the time to do everything.

A part of him was very tempted to start sleeping less and train like he used to, but he didn't see that working out very well in the long run. A healthy balance was finally within reach, and he didn't need to destroy it after all the work he had been putting in creating it.

Plus, Lily and the others would be angry at him. He had only just gotten back and would like to continue to be on their good side like he has been. After experiencing both sides, he could confidently say that it was much nicer on this side of the road.

There was one thing he knew for certain, though. He needed to determine which aspects he was going to focus on primarily. Then, he should create a tier of what he was going to work on when he was getting bored, tired, or just plain stuck on the main thing.

It was harder to decide than he would have expected.

Out of all his skills, he really wanted to focus on [Spatial Crack] and [Flash Step]. He felt that those two skills would help him improve the most in the shortest amount of time.

As for his Concepts, he still wanted to learn a Space Concept, which was quite high on his priority list. However, he really wanted to improve his Sharpness Concept as well. After seeing that notification, he really wanted to prove that his Concept wasn't that subpar. Plus, if he could upgrade his Fire Concept into a Phoenix Concept, he didn't see a reason why he couldn't do the same with his Sharpness Concept.

But he also reminded himself that in the grand scheme of things, he already had plenty of powerful Concepts for his stage of advancement. Most people would be very thankful just to have three Concepts.

Emblem Enhancement he felt pretty good about leaving as is for now. He had already spent some time cultivating it, but he hasn't had all that much success. It took a long time and the payoff was really small for how much attention he had to use on doing it.

He was already thinking that he would hold off on it until the semester ended so that he could delve into some rifts to fight monsters. That should hasten the progress immensely.

His aura control was always a work in progress. The stronger he got, the more he had to work on it. But he was finally starting to have a confident grasp of it. Even during his 'enthusiastic' battle, he didn't let his aura get out of his control and hurt his opponent. He had kept it under lock and key, something he was immensely proud of.

Mana control was another story, though. He had been planning to work on his constructs and the channels he was beginning to use, but he hadn't really spent much time on them. At least not as much time as he hoped he would have.

His constructs desperately needed some other element that would increase their effectiveness. He either needed to add a disruption effect or a way to make them go faster. Their firepower was still strong, but he found that by the time they reached his opponents, they already had a solution for them.

When he had been fighting the Tier 4s, they had been quick enough to dodge them with pure physical speed. But he was certain he would come across mages who could rip his constructs apart with their own skill.

After several minutes of walking, he found an empty bench in a garden and sat down. He took out a snack and pulled Drasil out of his soul space. He barely realized he was already handing over an orb of life mana to the gluttonous little spirit.

Drasil's consumption of the natural treasure from House Easten had not done anything to stymie the green guy's appetite. And since Julius was so well trained by the adorable spirit, he was forking over large amounts of mana without being asked.

It was only after some time that he finally came to a decision.

He would work on his Concepts for the time being. It had been too long already, and he wanted to evolve his [Spatial Perception]. It felt wrong that it was still at rare even though it was his very first skill.

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If he wanted to acquire a Space Concept, he believed that [Spatial Crack] was going to be very helpful in getting him there. It would be like hitting two birds with one stone. He could work on his Concepts but also focus on his newest skill.

On top of this Concept training, he was hoping that if he got a better Sharpness Concept. He hoped to implement that with his other skills, like [Barrier of Severance], before the skill evolved to epic. While he was pretty sure that it wouldn't be that much of a difference, it would be nice to establish a strong foundation for the skill before it took that step into epic ranked.

The next priority would be utilizing [Flash Step] with [Spatial Crack] or any spatial-related training. While he would be fine with [Instantaneous Step], he was feeling a bit more ambitious and wanted something more… dynamic.

After this, he would work on his mana control and aura control. He would make sure that he got Lily's help as well. She could likely help him with the softer aspects of mana manipulation on top of aura control. She was very good with both mana and aura in those aspects.

Cultivating his Emblem could wait, and for the rest of his time, he would make sure that he had some fun and opportunities to relax.

Very happy with his brainstorming session, he closed his eyes and meditated as he created a very small crack in space above his head. He tried his best to send his will through this crack, but wasn't able to quite enter.

Still, he made sure to immerse himself as he examined every inch of the distortion.

He was so distracted by his training that he didn't even detect the people walking up to him.

"See? I told you we would find him here," Aubrey stated in a bragging tone.

"Congratulations, you are now officially our very own Julius tracker," Edgar said to her as if it were some grand accomplishment.

Weirdly enough, this seemed to please her instead of offending her.

"Just so you don't forget, we're here to congratulate Julius on making it the top sixteen," Derek said with a heavy sigh.

Aubrey swiveled her head and stared at Derek with a frown. "You make it seem like we weren't already certain he would."

Derek shrugged. "There's always the possibility of something happening."

"Well then, what are we going to do to celebrate?" Aubrey asked eagerly. "Don't forget the three of us also won our matches."

"I already have some plans for us to go to Heston for a nice dinner," Lily mentioned from where she was trailing slightly behind with Kyle.

"The Golden Wheel?" Julius asked excitedly.

"Do you want to go to the Golden Wheel?" Lily asked curiously.

Julius nodded aggressively. "But if you already set up something else, then it's fine."

Lily chuckled. "I am sure I can try and make some changes."

He pumped his hands up high into the air. He hadn't been back since his first time, and he had wanted to go back ever since.

"But can we do it later? I've got to head over and watch Joshua's fight. It's something I can't miss."

"Why don't we all head on over together? I won't be watching another match today. We can head off after that," Derek offered.

Julius shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, the more people, the better," he said with a grin.

***

That's how they found themselves sitting up in the bleachers watching the fight begin.

Joshua was up against Adam, who had admittedly shown an impressive record so far. He had beaten all of his opponents without too much trouble. Even second years lost to him, proving that just because he was a noble ass, didn't mean he wasn't strong.

However, Julius doubted that Joshua cared very much for this. All he could see in Joshua's eyes was coldness. There was no rage or anger. It was pure calm.

Not even his aura reflected anything other than a cold serenity.

Adam appeared to be talking to Joshua, but got frustrated when Joshua didn't respond a single time. Joshua simply glared at Adam with that same icy stare.

When the fight began, it was Adam who made the first move. He dashed forward and sent a quick slash at Joshua's chest.

Joshua's fighting style was fluid and methodical. Everything was planned and within his expectations. He didn't take risks, and he forced his opponents to make mistakes.

However, right off the bat, Julius knew something was different. Instead of parrying or evading the blade like he expected, Joshua slammed his sword directly into Adam's.

This also surprised Adam, who must have analysed Joshua's fighting style as well.

Julius grinned widely and cheered, already knowing what was going to happen next. Because unfortunately for the noble prick, this was the only thing Joshua needed to take all of the momentum and turn it his way.

Before Adam could even recover, Joshua was already slamming blow after blow, knocking the other boy off balance with each strike. Every time Adam tried to parry and go on the offensive, Joshua was prepared and slapped everything to the side. This was a totally different Joshua from what Julius normally saw.

It didn't matter what Adam did; Joshua slowly broke him down as if he were nothing more than an obstacle in his path. Julius could see the realization in Adam's eyes, too. It was the realization that he was utterly outmatched and that he was going to lose. Once that sunk in, Julius could see the desperation bursting through the other boy's aura.

Adam threw out swathes of flame, panicking as he did everything he could to hold on for another second. Wasting all of his mana. Something Julius knew that Joshua was hoping for, since it was the exact same strategy that Adam had used against James.

Even with victory just over the horizon, Joshua didn't let up. With that same cold stare, he carefully and purposefully took away any chance of victory that Adam might have.

There wasn't a place on the field where Adam could stand without being swarmed with attacks. Any fire magic created was washed away with a jet of water. It was brutal, and it was glorious to watch.

Eventually, Adam exhausted all of his mana within a few minutes and looked like a wretched mess in front of the entire crowd as he could barely stand on his own two feet. And the best part? Everyone was loving it.

The entire crowd was cheering for Joshua as he systematically ripped apart Adam and cheered even louder when Joshua eventually thrust his sword right toward Adam's face while the defeated boy was gasping on his knees.

It was a satisfying match that alleviated much of Julius's previous annoyances.