Path to Transcendence

Julius learned that the Vice Sect Leader’s name was Cassandra, a much more normal name than Adrianagus. The young man and girl were Shin and Maya. He didn’t hear anyone introduce the old man, and the old man didn’t seem particularly interested in introducing himself either.
On another note, Julius found out that Cassandra was excellent at explaining things and an extensive source of knowledge, especially when it came to fire magic.
Furthermore, for some reason, she was very insistent on his calling her by her name rather than Vice Sect Leader. He wondered if there was some ulterior motive for that. He certainly got that feeling from her, though he didn’t really care, not when she was volunteering so much information.
He didn’t know if she genuinely felt bad or was curious herself, but she took him off to the side as she privately explained some of the finer details of advanced forms of fire. He learned other forms from her. Fires such as Mystical Fire, Celestial Fire, Abyssal Fire, and even weird forms such as Paradoxal Fire.
He didn’t know much about the latter one, but it sounded interesting nonetheless.
“Do you think it is worth it to gain one before I advance?”
She laughed at him. “Worth it? Absolutely not. The sheer amount of time, effort, and risk it would require is ridiculous. Plus, at Tier 3, I would be surprised if you were able to bring out even a fraction of its true power. I didn’t even have a good grasp of my Heavenly Flame until I was practically Tier 5.”
“Oh, so I shouldn’t worry about it for now?” He asked with a curious tilt of his head.
“Worry? No, there isn’t a need for that. You are already touching some of the obscure aspects of fire, so it's just a matter of time. But since you are getting close, it would be a good idea to focus on improving your understanding and general control over your fire in the meantime.”
“But what if I
want to get one of these advanced forms before I advance to Tier 4?” Julius asked with eager eyes.
She chuckled and ran a hand through her hair in amusement. “The only people I have seen get an advanced form of fire were mainly by accident. A young boy around your age was trapped inside a volcanic rift and gained a fire when he consumed a special-grade fire treasure and an immense amount of fire mana.”
“So it is possible,” he said happily.
“He died a year later when his body was unable to handle the influx of the powerful fire he acquired,” she said flatly.
“Oh.”
“Yeah, so don’t worry so much about getting it at Tier 3. But you are almost guaranteed to get one not long after you advance to Tier 4, which is a grand achievement in itself. Almost every sect that specializes in fire will be fighting each other to the death to get you to join them.”
“I didn’t realize it was that big of a deal,” he noted.
“Oh, it is. Only the top talents accomplish such a thing. However, it requires considerable effort to learn how to control it. If you want, my sect would be more than willing to help you develop this ability,” she offered.
He simply smiled at her but didn’t give her an answer to her offer. Instead, he changed topics.
“What are the Ten Great Sects? I heard a little about them from Stephan, but it sounds like it is a little more complicated than it seems.” While he was just changing the subject, he was truly curious about these sects. He didn’t really know much about the Empire, and a place like Corvus was an even bigger mystery to him.
What was different? Did they use different types of magic? He had a lot of questions.
She smirked at him, likely seeing straight through his intention. But she humored him anyway.
“Like the name suggests, there are ten top sects in Corvus. Each of them is ranked according to strength and other factors. There are other sects ranked outside the top ten, so it is always a fierce competition to see who can earn a spot. It keeps sects from falling behind and getting complacent. If you don’t continue to improve, you will drop out of the Ten Great Sects,” she briefly explained.
“Who decides these rankings?” He asked.
“The Immortal Seers,” Cassandra said, her face tightened up as she spoke.
“Immortal Seers?”
“Yes, they have kept track of the ranking of the sects for centuries and have great influence across all of Corvus,” she said curtly, and Julius didn’t have to be a sage to understand that she didn’t want to talk about these seers any longer, so he changed the topic again.
“So what are the rankings? I heard from Stephan that you guys are ranked fourth or something,” he commented.
“The rankings change frequently; only the top three have maintained their spots throughout history. But here, you can take a look for yourself,” she said as she retrieved a small card from her storage ring. She let some mana flow through it before handing it off to Julius.
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He gently took it from her fingers and was surprised at the sheer weight of the card. It had to weigh at least ten pounds, and he almost dropped it. Thankfully, he didn’t embarrass himself by doing that. However, based on her disappointed frown, he suspected that she had been hoping that he would.
He gave her an exasperated look and examined the card in his hands. His eyes widened as he felt an extreme amount of mana flow through the card. There was so much magic in this little card that he didn’t even know where to start analysing. Eventually, he gave up and looked at the dazzling golden letters that appeared on the card.
He slowly inspected the rankings, paying special attention to the top three sects. The Nine Peaks Sect, Azure Sky Sword Sect, and Golden Cauldron Sect were at the top of the list. He was immediately curious what made these three sects stand out and last for as long as they did.
“How far is the difference between the Burning Sun Sect and the other six sects behind it?” He inquired.
“Not far at all. We mainly keep our ranking because our ability to destroy makes us very dangerous. Very few sects can say they can compare to us when it comes to sheer destruction,” she said proudly.
He was about to ask another question, but she swiped her hand at him. “No more questions. I have answered a lot already. More importantly, I want to show you some exercises that might help you improve your control over fire,” she said with a grin.
He wasn't one to complain upon hearing that and quickly followed her directions without another word.
***
Shin glanced at Uncle Adrian, who was currently looking very uncomfortable as the individuals known as Cain and Freya occasionally glanced at him with thinly veiled resentment.
Part of Shin was very delighted to see his uncle finally get kicked down a peg. The man was too used to waving around his authority at those beneath him. That included Shin in the past years.
Fortunately, since he had proven his worth to the sect, Shin has slowly reached a place where his uncle wasn’t able to treat him with such disregard anymore. Still, the memories of childhood stuck with Shin more than he cared to admit.
“Do you know who he is?” Maya asked him quietly.
While Maya wasn’t technically family, the years of competing with one another naturally drew them closer together. In some respects, he thought of her more as family than his actual family.
He shook his head. “No, he wasn’t one of the people we were told to look out for,” he said as he glanced at where his grandmother was currently talking with the unknown boy like he was her long-lost son.
If anyone at the Burning Sun Sect saw this interaction, they would be flabbergasted. Vice Sect Leader Cassandra was known to be indifferent and logical, typically revealing her fiery emotions only when she was angered or annoyed.
Yet, here she was, speaking to an unknown foreigner like it was the most normal thing in the world. A piece of Shin couldn’t help but feel envious as he looked on. Even as her grandson, he was still forced to maintain an air of decorum around her at all times.
There had to be a reason why she was acting like this. It was likely she saw something in the boy and wanted to bring him back with them to Corvus when they returned. At least that was the only logical reasoning Shin could come up with.
“Do you know who he is, Uncle?” He asked his uncle with regret. He hated having to ask, but it was better than being left in the dark.
“Not really. None of our reports has anything written about him. It was why I went over and tried to—” he paused when the two strangers glanced in his direction. “Invite him over to talk,” his uncle finished lamely.
Seeing that he wasn’t going to be getting any answers from his uncle, he took some time to calm his nerves and steady his resolve before walking over to these two strangers. He didn’t know who they were, but it was clear that they were stronger than his uncle. Uncle Adrian’s timidness around them further proved this.
He greeted them with a low bow. “Greetings, Lord Cain and Lady Freya, my name is Shin. I apologize for the intrusion, but I felt it would be rude for me not to introduce myself,” he said, doing a good job at maintaining his calm, stoic attitude. He did have to activate his [Burning Sword Heart] to help him regulate his emotions, but it was only natural.
He had made the mistake of touching their auras with his own and found himself almost overwhelmed just by that small contact. He had a feeling that he had encountered two very dangerous individuals.
Thankfully, they didn’t seem to be as irritable as some of the elders and powerful maniacs he had met over the years.
The massive man known as Cain was the first one to greet him. “Manners are never something you should apologize for,” he said with a soft and dignified nod. “Is there something you wish to ask?”
The polite response initially took Shin aback, and his nervousness slowly subsided. “Yes, I do. It’s just that…” For some reason, his words failed him as he couldn’t articulate what he wanted. Even though he was pretty sure that they wouldn’t attack him for speaking to them, the memory of how dangerous their auras felt kept on flaring up in his mind.
“It’s just that you don’t know what to ask,” the woman, Freya, finished for him with an understanding smile.
He nodded in relief. “Precisely.”
“You said your name was Shin, correct?”
“Yes, Lady Freya,” he said respectfully.
“Please, none of this lady nonsense, just call me Freya,” she said to him.
He bowed deeply. “I wouldn’t dare take such a casual tone with someone as exalted as you or Lord Cain.”
She sighed for some reason. “I see. What are you confused about?”
He braved himself. “I was curious about the two of you, as well as your apprentice over there who my grandmother is talking to,” he finally stated.
The two of them seemed amused for some reason, and that worried him. “That’s all you wanted to ask?”
He bowed once more. “Yes.”
“We are just some simple people here to enjoy the tournament,” Cain said plainly.
He gave them a pained smile when he noticed they had no intention of explaining much beyond that. He would have been an idiot if he believed these two people in front of him were “normal” people. But he was also smart enough to know that saying that out loud would be ill-advised. Instead, he nodded understandingly.
“Of course,” he said and bowed deeply once more.