Path to Transcendence

Lily was Tier 3, so her physical attributes were better than Julius's, but she made sure to limit herself the best she could. To be honest, Julius didn’t think it would have mattered if she did. Maybe Lily thought she was being helpful, but after a few minutes, it became obvious that Julius was a much better fighter than her. She even started to notice and began using more of her actual physical abilities.

Her raw speed and strength were impressive but they didn’t matter if she didn’t know how to use them properly. Julius used a little kinetic energy to keep up with her speed, but Julius didn’t capitalize on her openings and punch her in the face. They were all wearing the simulated combat devices, so while no one would get hurt, they could still feel the pain of a fist crunching their nose.

Lily was clearly nervous about fighting with her fists, and he helped her out whenever he saw something wrong. Although it was a class where he was supposed to be learning, he found himself acting in a teaching role.

He didn’t mind at all. He had all year to practice but he considered Lily and others his friends and wanted to help them out whenever he could. They might not have realized it, but they made his transition much easier and he was extremely grateful.

So for a while, he patiently showed Lily basic things like how to throw a punch and how to avoid a strike while not getting off balance. After Julius told her a little trick about placing her feet she stopped for a minute.

“You are good at this,” Lily complimented to Julius only a little out of breath.

Julius was glad to see that her endurance was quite good for someone who didn’t focus on the physical combat side. Throwing punches for the first time was more exhausting than most people would think.

“I am focusing on close combat after all,” Julius replied.

“I’m serious, you are only Tier 1 and while I can feel some sort of enhancement skill running, it is on low intensity. You are keeping up with me easily, and I don’t know if I should be embarrassed or impressed,” she told him.

“It’s only your first time, trust me you will get much better with practice. Come on, enough dillydallying, let’s go again,” Julius insisted.

Julius was going another round with Lily when he felt someone at his back, watching him. Julius used [Spatial Perception] and was able to determine that it was Professor Keller. He didn’t seem like he was happy either if the way he was looking at Julius was any indicator.

Lily seemed to sense Professor Keller’s attention as well because she took a step back and bowed. “Professor Keller, it is good to see you again.”

Professor Keller turned to look at her, “Ah, Ms. Violet, I must admit I was quite pleasantly shocked to see your name among my roster this year. I always thought that learning some sort of close-quarter combat skill would do you some good.”

“My friends finally convinced me,” Lily said with a small grin.

“Yes, it would appear they did. Is this one of these so-called friends?” Professor Keller asked while looking at Julius again.

Lily smiled wider and said, “Yes, this is Julius and he is new to Goldencrest this year, he was excited to be taking your class.”

“I’m sure he was.” Professor Keller said. “But I have assistants for a reason. I understand that he is helping you, but he is supposed to be focusing on his own training.”

Then the professor turned to him and said, “Stay behind after class.” Then he just walked away, leaving Julius feeling confused at the interaction. He was sure that he hadn’t done anything to piss Professor Keller off unless he was actually mad that he had been helping Lily, but he doubted that. There were plenty of students who were helping their sparring partners.

After the class ended, Lily made sure to thank Julius for his help. Edgar and Aubrey made their way toward them and asked if Julius wanted to come with the three of them to the library. They were going to do some studying and thought he might want to come as well.

Julius shook his head. “I have to stay after class, Professor Keller wanted to talk with me after class but I can meet you guys there afterward,” he told them.

“Why would he want to see you after class?” Edgar asked with a confused face.

Lily answered for Julius. “He rebuked Julius since he was teaching me more than prioritizing his own training.”

Edgar put a hand under his chin. “That shouldn’t make him upset, he has always been fine with students helping out with other students.”

“You think he has something against Julius?” Aubrey questioned.

Julius didn’t want them to continue to think that something was wrong, so he interrupted them. “I don’t think he was that upset. I met him when he proctored my practical exam and he was very nice.”

The three of them paused, taking in what Julius said.

“Why was he like that then?” Lily asked.

“I don’t know, but I guess I will find out in a moment. I’ll tell you guys when I see you at the library,” Julius said.

They were still confused, but they said their goodbyes to Julius and told him where they usually hang out in the library before leaving.

Julius watched them and the other students funnel out of the gym until it was just Julius, the remaining assistants, and Professor Keller.

Professor Keller saw him standing off to the side and told something to the assistants. Then Julius saw the assistants all walk out together, leaving just Julius and Professor Keller. Unlike the cold stare he got earlier today, Julius watched as Professor Keller smiled wide at Julius and walked up to him, slapping Julius on the shoulder and almost dropping him to his knees.

“Hey Julius! Sorry about that earlier, but I wanted to talk to you and didn’t want to let the other students who were listening in know why. I hope you didn’t think I was just being rude.” Professor Keller had an apologetic expression on his face.

“I was curious and a little taken aback but that makes sense. So what did you want to talk about professor?” Julius asked.

“Just call me Gabriel, at least when it is just the two of us. I wanted to talk about why you didn’t reach out to me?” Gabriel said with a hurt look on his face.

Julius was confused, was he supposed to have reached out? Julius didn’t even know how to get a hold of Gabriel.

“I’m sorry, but I didn’t know I was supposed to and even if I did, I don’t have a way of contacting you,” Julius tried to explain.

“I thought we agreed to spar with each other if you decided to attend,” Gabriel said to Julius.

Julius did remember them agreeing to that. “We did, but I didn’t think you meant before the semester started. But even if I did, I still don’t have a way of contacting you or scheduling a spar.”

“Oh… You have a point. You don’t have a communication stone?” Gabriel inquired.

Julius shook his head. He had thought about buying one, but they were ridiculously expensive, costing at least half a platinum for the cheapest one. He also didn’t have much use for it, all the people he could use it for were Orus, Rae, and Declan. Maybe the other five now, but that was it.

“Well, I will get you one, there’s no reason why you shouldn’t have one. That way you can reach out whenever you want and we can spar,” Gabriel insisted.

Julius tried to protest, but Gabriel wasn’t having any of it. He said that the cost didn’t matter to someone like him with more money than he knew what to do with. Eventually, Julius just agreed with Gabriel, seeing that he was not going to budge on this.

“So you want to spar?” Gabriel asked with an excited look.

“Right now?” Julius said bewildered. Gabriel must love fighting, whenever he talks about fighting his eyes sparkle. Julius didn’t even know why Gabriel wanted to fight Julius so badly, he was sure there were plenty of stronger people who would love to fight him.

“Yes right now, there is nobody around, I made sure of that. I had a feeling that you didn’t want everyone to know how strong you were.” Julius’s eyes widened. “But you wouldn’t be the only person who does that at Goldencrest, many keep their abilities secret for end-of-year tournaments,” Gabriel casually said.

Huh, so I wasn’t alone. I can see why people would do that though. Sparring in class with the same people you are going to fight against would let them know your whole style.

“And you want to fight me without holding back?” Julius asked him.

Gabriel laughed. “Yep, during your practical exam, I felt you were holding back, even after that last punch. That was why I insisted we spar. You might be able to fool many of the students and other staff, but someone with any real experience will be able to tell.”

Julius didn’t respond. He didn’t know what to make of this situation. He knew that Gabriel got the sense that he was holding back, but if what he said was true then what was the point of hiding from him anymore?

“How strong do you think I am?” Julius looked right at Gabriel when he asked that.

He saw Gabriel's lips press together and tilt his big bald head to the side, deep in thought. Finally, he said, “I don’t know, that is partially why I am so curious. But I expect you could put up a good fight against weaker Tier 3’s. Your aura is clearly a new addition, but your control is already pretty good. Also, you have a lot of mana that you aren’t using, so I predict you could enhance your body as much as you want. It would just come down to how much your body could take.”

Julius laughed to himself, Gabriel hit the nail on the head. Maybe this was a good thing though, he did tell Declan most of the truth already. However, could he trust Gabriel the same way? The short answer was no. But how many people could connect their auras like he and Declan did? Not many, and it was important to note that Julius had trusted Orus with his skills as well.

“Also, how much do you really expect you will improve here if you are constantly handicapping yourself?” Gabriel asked in a teasing tone.

Gabriel knows exactly what he is doing. This smug baldie was trying to lure me in and it's working. God dammit.

Julius didn’t see a good reason why he wouldn’t spar with Gabriel not holding back. He was right, Julius’s little plan to hide his strength didn’t make sense if he sacrificed his chances of improvement. Plus, Gabriel already figured out some of Julius’s abilities.

“You want to spar with me that badly?” Julius questioned the man.

“Yep.”

“Why?” Julius pressed.

“It’s not complicated, I just like fighting strong people, and I feel like you are strong at least for your tier.” Gabriel honestly answered.

“How do I know I can trust you not to tell anyone?” Julius anxiously asked.

Julius saw Gabriel’s face turn from smiling and teasing to a more serious one.

“I promise I won’t say a word,” Gabriel said solemnly and for some reason, Julius believed him. He didn't want to, but he wanted to believe that Gabriel wouldn’t betray his trust. He took a leap of faith with Declan and Orus, but could he do the same with Gabriel?