Path to Transcendence

The day before he left, he decided to finish the rest of the things he wanted to do. One of those things included getting a new skill. But to his surprise, he no longer found the same skill available to him.

[Harmonic Circulation] was gone from his notifications. Instead, he was presented with a different skill. One that, in all honesty, might be even better.

Would you like to learn the skill [Harmonic Balance]?

He assumed this was because of his recent acquisition of a Concept of Balance. He doubted it was too different, but from the sounds of it, the skill was something more aligned with his concept than [Harmonic Circulation] had been.

He still accepted the skill.

Congratulations, you have learned [Harmonic Balance] (Epic)

As expected, the skill did have something to do with his new concept, and he felt the skill branch from the concept orb in his soul, and into a new glowing orb, representing the new skill.

From the initial feelings he got from the skill, it represented everything he wanted from it. It wasn’t a superior skill, but he supposed he couldn’t be too upset about that. Perhaps, he’d been getting too used to getting them every time he learned a new skill.

He was only recently delving into the softer and more balanced part of his abilities, so that might have played a factor as well. Not to mention, superior skills were especially important because they represented how a skill met the prerequisites to advance to the next rank. Not because they were simply stronger.

Look at [Phoenix Renewal] and [Sage of Savagery]. Neither were superior skills, but each was powerful in its own right. Though it was possible he’d only gotten such evolution tests for them because they hadn’t shown superior skills.

So far, he hadn’t evolved any epic skills that were superior. [Pyrokinetic Embodiment of Ruin] was the closest one. The skill was actually still sitting at level 30. For the past few months of his recovery, he hadn’t gained any skill levels, and the body reinforcement skill hadn’t prompted him to begin its evolution.

Though he suspected his subsequent issues with his soul had something to do with why it hadn’t evolved, rather than it being an issue with superior skills. He hoped that would change now that he’d gotten better. He probably needed to give it a quick test run before he got a prompt to evolve it.

He wasn't in a rush. Two new legendary skills were hard enough to get used to.

Speaking of tests, he quickly ran a test on his new skill and activated it. He thought he already had an idea of what it would do, predicting that it would aid in his life mana technique and balancing his aura and life mana, but he was stunned by what it actually did.

It didn’t just affect his life mana technique. But it affected all of his skills. Everything, from his aura skill to his focus skill, he could feel the skill permeating throughout every inch of his body and soul.

The slightly jagged and rough edges of his abilities were smoothed out. He could feel his already impressive control of his mana and his aura undergo changes when the skill was active. Unlike the usual boost to his overall power that came with a new skill, [Harmonic Balance] was much more focused on the overall elegance and balance.

I know, shocking, he commented internally with a laugh.

He felt absolute confidence that everything was within his control. And that confidence was addicting. Knowing that he didn’t have to fight his aura or mana for control was a relief.

He allowed himself to bask in the warm glows of his new skill. It was as if every movement he made with any of his energies sparked something deep within himself. This resulted in a burst of positive and cozy feelings flowing through his body.

The experience was intoxicating, and he realized he was going to be spending even more time playing with his aura or mana from now on. If he wasn’t already an addict to training, then this would ensure he would become one.

He grinned widely before taking out the [Radiant Flame Berry]. The berry was the same as before; the small red gem was sitting in his palm, pulsing gently. Faint flickers of fire warmed his hand.

He’d already done some research into the gem after Koenn gave it to him. Apparently, this berry was somewhat of a “common” item that people consumed to increase their affinities. While he said it was common, it wasn’t something your average disciple or person would ever come across.

It wasn’t a pinnacle treasure by any means, but it was still quite valuable and very effective for its intended purpose. From what he read, he didn’t believe he’d be getting his affinity to perfect, even with his new blanket. But if his new soul-bound item worked as he hoped, it would be pretty close to perfect.

He also made sure that Cassandra double-checked its validity. It wasn’t that he didn’t trust Koenn, but he wanted to make sure whatever he was consuming was safe and the real deal.

She assured him that it was indeed the genuine artifact and gave him the go-ahead to use it whenever he wanted. And that’s exactly what he did.

Would you like to consume [Radiant Flame Berry]?

He threw his blanket over himself and placed the berry into his awaiting mouth before accepting the notification. Sadly, he didn’t get a chance to chew it or really taste the berry. The second he accepted, the little thing dissolved on his tongue and into fine particles.

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It was hot for a moment, but that quickly gave way to a cooling sensation. He was reminded of how the Fruit of Verdant Purity worked when he improved his life affinity, and this berry seemed to do the same thing.

He sat down on the ground while short bursts of energy rippled throughout his body. He didn’t bother to use his focus skill to numb the pain; he wanted to see what it was doing for himself. The blanket seemed to be working; he could sense it aiding the berry while it infused into his body.

And before long, he got another notification.

Congratulations, you have successfully consumed a Radiant Flame Berry. Your body has been cleansed thoroughly with fire mana.

Congratulations, your affinity to fire mana has increased. (High -> Excellent)

He let out a sigh while he examined the aftereffects of the treasure. While he didn’t get a perfect fire affinity, he was very happy with the results. He could immediately tell that his connection to fire had strengthened, and it was pushing close to that boundary of perfection.

It was perhaps a greater improvement to it than his life mana had been. And the improvement of his life affinity was perhaps the reason why [Phoenix Renewal] had been one of the first skills to evolve.

He stared across the courtyard of the pavilion, toward the sect beyond it, with a small grin. The Burning Sun Sect had been a nice little change, but it was time for him to explore Corvus a little bit on his own.

***

He left the sect quietly. A few people knew he had left, and he made sure to say goodbye to them. Healer Gui insisted that Julius come over before he left, but Julius knew it was more of an effort to get some extra cookies.

It wasn’t like he wasn’t coming back to the sect. He had plans to return in the future, but for now, he wanted to do some exploring, and so, with Cassandra sending him off, he left the sect under the cover of darkness.

He’d already changed his appearance. He didn’t do much, just some small adjustments to his nose and eyes. His eyes were now a darker blue, which actually made a bigger difference than he expected. His nose was slightly narrower and had a slight bump on the ridge, as if it’d been broken in the past.

He kept his height true to his actual height. Which was just under six feet. He still hadn’t quite reached the sacred realms of tallness like Derek or Edgar, which rankled him more than he cared to admit.

The first stop he made was in the Burning Sun City. He could have taken the teleportation stations the sect had placed all around the country, but he was told that it would attract too many eyes. Almost all of them were observed by some other party.

Instead, he decided to travel the old-fashioned way.

But for the time being, he wanted to head over to one of the night markets he’d found the other month. The city itself was a bustling place. It was already past bedtime for many people, but there were still large crowds depending on the area.

He tried a few new food stalls, sitting at one of the communal tables and enjoying his meal in peace. Drasil wanted to come out, but unfortunately, he had to wait.

Over the past few weeks, Julius and Drasil had been brainstorming ideas for how to remain somewhat inconspicuous. The problem was that Drasil had become a little celebrity, and while it wasn’t likely that someone outside the sect recognized him, it didn’t seem smart to flaunt him about.

With his new wings, Drasil stood out quite a bit. And so they decided on a few things. First, Drasil was going to practice changing his appearance, something that was supposedly within a spirit's abilities.

Drasil could do it, but at the moment, it was quite limited since he had no practice with the ability. There was never a need in the first place, but since he was basically made up of pure life mana, it wasn’t too hard.

Still, he was currently restricted to looking like a small ball of green mana. It wasn’t bad and would look like many other spirits, but Drasil was insistent that he learn how to make his appearance a bit more… special.

Julius wasn’t about to argue with the little guy either. But it required some time and practice, so until he was able to keep a form stable for prolonged periods, he would have to stay inside Julius’s soul space.

As for Julius, he gave himself a little challenge. He wanted to hide his healing ability.

Not just hide it, but to not use it unless absolutely necessary. Part of his issue was that he’d become so reliant on the skill that he’d been throwing himself into the fire literally. The first step in calming down would be to stop using the skill to rationalize his dumb decisions.

He had no illusions that this would completely clear him of making any dumb decisions, but it would be the first in a much-needed effort. He liked fighting more than anyone else, but the number of close deaths or actual deaths had been way too many in this several-month span. Even for his warped standards. Thankfully, he would have his new Concept of Balance to keep him in check... hopefully.

He wouldn’t completely stop himself from using life mana. His healing abilities were very useful and might be a good way to get himself accepted for missions at the guild. But perhaps using Drasil as his contracted familiar for healing would be a better decision, especially since the spirit was far more talented in that area than he was.

After he finished eating, he was recommended a small inn by a pair of kind adventurers. He told him of his plan to leave Burning Sun City, and they informed him that there would be a bunch of caravans that he could sign up for in the morning.

He thanked them and gave them some snacks for their help, much to their joy.

In the morning, he woke up early and went to find a caravan. To his glee, there were many of them. Since the guild was close by, there were plenty of adventurers who were looking for escort missions.

Julius didn’t go over to the first caravan he saw, he waited and examined each one carefully. He wasn’t planning to join them as an adventurer, but as a simple traveler. He thought it was easier this way because he didn’t need to get anything approved; he just needed to pay. And honestly, money was the one thing he wasn’t worried about.

He had more than he knew what to do with it.

And so, after about half an hour of watching the various caravans get ready, he went over to the one he believed was the best choice.

A man dressed in a simple but well-tailored suit noticed his approach and turned to greet him, a warm and respectful expression on his face. From what Julius could tell, the man was a merchant and the person in charge of this particular caravan.

“Hello,” the merchant greeted him.

Julius lowered his head politely. “Hello, I was wondering if your group has room for one more person.”

The merchant nodded. “There is indeed some room. What made you decide to choose this caravan, though?”

Julius tilted his head in confusion, noticing there was a hidden inquiry beneath an otherwise simple question.

The merchant smiled at him. “I saw that you were examining our caravan as well as many other caravans for a while, and wondered what made you decide on ours? Call it simple curiosity.”

Julius was a little impressed. He didn’t know that this man had already noticed his examination of the caravan. While he hadn’t been exactly hidden, he’d stayed towards the back, and with how many other people were around, he blended into the crowd easily. It would appear that this merchant was much more aware than Julius initially gave him credit for.