Path to Transcendence

Additionally, it wasn\'t like he had completely forgotten training. While he hadn\'t gained any skill levels in this period of time, he did improve on many things unrelated to pure numbers and levels. For one, his control of mana had improved by leaps and bounds.

Who would have thought that handicapping his mana capacity and control would help him this much?

Even his kinetic energy made some nice improvements during this time. His performance in Applied Combat certainly showed his new proficiency with the affinity. He wasn\'t at least struggling as much as he had been. Which was simultaneously encouraging and disappointing.

Alice was fine with him training at this level as well. She actually actively supported him when he told her about his activities. She said that it was a good thing as long as he didn\'t train like he had been or gain any skill levels. The device would suppress any skill gains within reason, but if he pushed it, he would still gain more levels. She also ensured that he got proper rest.

Speaking of her. Julius made sure to get frequent check-ups with her. She would monitor his health and he would in return show her how he got his perception skill.

It was quite amusing to see her reaction when he explained how he got the skill. She was baffled that such a method worked for him. She couldn\'t even begin to comprehend why a child who could barely talk would willingly blindfold himself for most of his childhood.

In the end, she swallowed her pride and asked him to show her the exercises he had done to accomplish it.

They spent hours as Julius had Alice jam pieces of clay into her orifices and cover her eyes. It was hilarious to see and he did his best not to make fun of the woman considering that he had done the same thing years earlier. He could start to see why people thought he was "special" when he was younger.

Eventually, they had to ask Dante to create something with a little more soundproofing. The natural sense of smell and hearing of a Tier 6 wasn\'t something to underestimate.

She could still hear and smell pretty well through the clay, despite her best efforts. She attempted to dampen her own senses with her domain but apparently keeping the domain active ensured that she was always somewhat aware of her surroundings. Julius didn\'t know how that quite worked, but instead of that Dante created a helmet that prevented any sensation from reaching the woman.

After she had that, everything went a lot smoother. Julius had her start with simple exercises while she wore the helmet and they slowly progressed to him throwing things at her.

Dante found it especially amusing when small pebbles smacked into her chest and face. The old man even begged Julius to allow him to try along with him. Alice, unsurprisingly adamantly refused his request. Much to Dante\'s disappointment.

She also gave Julius more of the soul-healing concoction. The first time he drank it, he almost died from shock. What Alice had not told him, was that the concoction quite literally packed a punch. It felt like he hooked up his tongue to a car battery and got electrocuted by it.

This version she said was a newer version that her friend had made after Alice had gone to her immediately after giving Julius the first bottle. This new one was much better. It still didn\'t taste very good, but at least it didn\'t almost kill him when he drank it, which was a huge improvement.

He only looked forward to Drasil\'s healing essence. His trusty little healer familiar was working himself to the bone. Drasil spent every possible minute either giving Julius more essence or cultivating more to heal Julius with.

Julius would make sure that the little guy was well rewarded after this. The little glutton deserved it. He just didn\'t know what he would get him yet. Perhaps another treasure would be a good idea. Though, he wasn\'t sure he would be able to afford something that nice yet.

He did have some leftover cores from the Tier 3 but he didn\'t know how much he would get for him. He would have to do some brainstorming.

On another note, during these past couple of weeks, Julius also had to find some sort of activity to fill his time.

That inevitably led him to hang out with the others much more often. Which he had to admit, was very nice. It almost made him feel bad for not hanging out with them more often.

Most of the time it was him, Lily, and Aubrey. The guys were constantly busy with something but would frequently tag along with them, depending on what the activity was.

For example, Aubrey and Kyle had introduced him to shopping at second-hand stores and he learned that Kyle would always try to come along whenever he could, always on the hunt for something interesting.

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The items sold at these shops were simple items, one of his favorite items he found was a crystal decoration that activated whenever moonlight hit it. He had placed it in the window of his room and loved how it emitted a soft, comforting aura throughout the night.

He knew that Henry also loved the item as well. The other boy had tried to ignore it, but Julius had caught his smiling at the crystal in the window more than once.

The best part? It cost less than two silvers.

He also picked up other hobbies. The most recent one was gardening. Aubrey and Lily didn\'t enjoy it, but surprisingly Edgar joined him. The big fourth-year had a green thumb and helped Julius set up a small patch for their own projects.

The gardens at Goldencrest didn\'t have any owners or really any rules, so it should be fine that they were doing it. Edgar didn\'t seem worried either.

Edgar had his own selection of plants that he wanted to grow. While Julius chose some unique looking flowers and a couple of various plants that grew berries, the other boy chose to go with tubulars.

He planted at least a dozen varieties of potatoes and other closely related plants. Julius should have honestly expected something like that. Even though Edgar denied it, he knew that the older boy just wanted to try the various potatoes for himself.

***

Reinera POV

She was worried about Julius. He had been noticeably more sluggish and acted differently. Even his mana control had been disturbingly lacking as of late, which was very odd for a person she admired for his impressive control.

She had also caught him wincing at times. He gave her some excuses about him not feeling that good and that he must have caught something. But it had been many weeks and he hadn\'t gotten any better.

That was the beginning of her suspicions that something else was up with him. She had asked Amelia if she had noticed something.

"He has some sort of enchanted item activated at all times. I\'m not sure what it is supposed to do, but it almost feels like a suppression shackle in some ways. The device is wrapped around his soul like one normally does," Amelia said with a frown.

"You think he knows what he\'s wearing?" She asked the other woman.

"I can\'t imagine he doesn\'t," Amelia replied.

"Why not?"

"You have never worn one, so it makes sense you don\'t know, but something like that doesn\'t work without some permission granted by the wearer," Amelia explained.

She paused for a moment to think. Honestly, a suppression device would make sense for his behavior in recent weeks.

She was honestly a bit disturbed to see him fight during their Applied Combat class. There were moments when he got pretty ruffled. Every fight was a struggle. And it wasn\'t like his normal holding back either. It was a genuine struggle that alarmed her the first several times it happened.

She wasn\'t the only one either. Many students were watching the boy fight tooth and nail to beat the monster assigned to him. It wasn\'t like he was gaining as much attention as people like herself or other talented students like Helen Cromweld, Polux, Tia Wellence, or Joshua Rollins. But it was still something many students were aware of.

It wasn\'t as if no other student lost to the monster. Many students not specializing in combat lost their fights, but not a single student fought as fiercely as Julius did and still lost. Some classmates laughed at Julius\'s struggles, which wasn\'t exactly surprising. Children would be children after all.

Most of the nobles didn\'t see anything else other than some poor commoner struggling to beat a Tier 2 monster.

However, there were some who also thought similarly to Reinera. The Rollins scion in particular seemed worried just like her, she had seen Julius and Joshua talking from time to time after class, so she knew that they were somewhat on friendly terms.

Additionally, Tia and Polux both had differing reactions. Tia seemed more sympathetic, while Polux had an exasperated smile on his face.

The beastkin boy was a curious one. Reinera didn\'t see Polux interact with Julius, but she always caught his eye focused on the other boy. Not to mention that the beastkin boy was strong in his own right.

She suspected that other than herself and Helen Cromweld, he was the strongest student in their year. His physical ability was terrifying and his use of aura for attacks was phenomenal.

Speaking of Helen Cromweld, she didn\'t care about Julius. Which wasn\'t surprising. She hadn\'t noticed anyone other than herself the entire time Reinera had been at the school. It was like the redhead focused solely on herself and didn\'t care about anyone else.

She focused her attention back on Julius who was fighting an Armored Koven. An Armored Koven was a large bulky four legged monster that had three horns on its head that it liked to spear its opponents with.

At Tier 2 they weren\'t that much of a threat. Their armor wasn\'t that strong yet and their speed was quite lacking. It was only when they reached Tier 3 that they became threats. Those few that made it to Tier 4 were able to shrug off attacks from Tier 4s and smash through town defenses like they were eggshells.

They were quite the challenging monsters to deal with whenever a monster flood happened.

Fortunately, Julius was facing one at Tier 2 and he was taking advantage of the monster\'s weaknesses. The black-haired boy always remained off to the side of the monster, making sure he wasn\'t in line with its horns. He also made sure to hit the softened plates of armor that resided just behind the back of the Koven\'s ears.

It was still a hard-fought battle, but Julius eventually came out on top. He was breathing slightly heavily and looked a little ragged, but it was a much better showing than several weeks ago. She still remembered him getting pummeled into the dirt.

Perhaps he is getting better, she admitted to herself.

Then she saw the boy hobble off to a nearby bench and practically fall down on it. She winced as he took large gulps of water out of a canteen that he summoned out of his spatial device, spilling some on his face and down to his uniform.

Maybe I spoke too soon, she said internally with a grimace.

However, when she saw him take out a cookie and start munching on it with a tired grin, she chuckled to herself.

Actually, I think he\'ll be fine, she stated to herself confidently.