Path to Transcendence

Julius was in the middle of running away. The suspiciously friendly guy had been waiting for him outside the cave entrance. Not only that, but he had put together a little gift for Julius. Jonas had organized everything from valuable materials to cores from the monsters Julius had defeated. The cores were even sorted by color and vibrancy. It was so neat that it made a chill run up and down his spine.
Julius didn’t really know what to do with these cores, but the guy insisted that he take them. It was easier to say yes, rather than no.
Lyra was there as well, looking like she was getting along very well with the handsome guy. Apparently, she had come back when he didn’t show up. It was nice of her, but honestly, he hoped she wouldn’t return.
It would have made things easier for him. He wanted to try the teaming-up thing, but it was clear that he wasn't made out for that sort of thing, which was why he had explained to her that he wanted to go his separate way.
Of course, she didn’t like that. She wanted to continue working with him. He would have as well, he enjoyed her company and felt like she was a good person. Still, he had a feeling that she wanted to stay with him because of his strength. But he also explained the truth of the matter. She wasn’t strong enough to keep up with him.
Surprisingly, that was enough to convince her to back down. She looked upset at that blunt reason, but the dozens of bodies around them likely made it more convincing. She had probably already realized that she would only hold him back. Which, to be fair, would be the case for most people, even his friends. They would likely meet again once they got closer to the pillar of light. Jonah seemed insistent that it would happen.
That was how he found himself on the move. He wanted to put as much distance as possible between himself and Jonas. Unlike Lyra, the other guy hadn’t been so easy to convince. For some reason, he really wanted to tag alongside Julius.
To Jonas’s credit, he seemed like a very competent person. Julius assumed that he was even stronger than Lyra. His aura control was impeccable, and he never seemed uncomfortable in Julius's presence. However, his extroverted nature made Julius uneasy.
Once Julius made it far enough away, he removed the disk from his storage ring and placed his feet on it. His feet were locked onto the disk, and he slowly fed his mana to the item. The last time he hadn’t been as careful was the reason why Lyra had demanded they go on foot instead.
He didn’t blame her either. If not for his ability to heal from most injuries as well as his ability to fly, he might have felt less comfortable using this board. That said, the board was awesome.
It moved very quickly and was shockingly nimble. He wasn’t the best at controlling it, but he was learning bit by bit. What made the item even better than his kinetic energy was how little mana and focus it required.
When he flew with his kinetic energy, it required almost all his focus and consumed a massive amount of it. While kinetic energy was very sustainable, it still put some strain on Julius if handled that much for an extended period.
This board solved those issues, and as long as he was fine with soaring across the plains on an unstable board and some vertigo, it was an extremely useful item.
He continued to head deeper into the rift. The pillar of light was still far away in the distance, and he wanted to see how much land he could cross in the meantime. The board only allowed him to fly ten feet off the ground, but in a flat environment like the plains, it was more than enough.
He passed several other competitors along his way. Most of them were heading toward the center, much like he was. Some of the people he had come across were fighting monsters of their own. All of these monsters were strong. Maybe not as strong as the gray goblin-looking monsters, but they were definitely at the top of Tier 3. He wondered how many people were still participating after the first day.
He glanced at the horizon where the sun was setting over some large mountains. If he didn’t know any better, he would have thought this was the real world. It certainly didn’t feel like any rift he had been in. He was curious what kind of secrets this realm was hiding.
Once the sun disappeared, the sky darkened, and the moon’s brilliance showed itself. The moon was massive, and even at a half moon, it lit up the entire sky with breathtaking beauty. For a few minutes, he just stood on the board, hovering in the air as he took in the mystical atmosphere. He tossed the two tokens he had acquired in the air as he relaxed.
He wished he could say he was surprised when he was forced to create a barrier at the back of his head. A bolt of pure mana slammed into his barrier out of nowhere. Julius turned around and looked in the direction the mana bolt had come from.
He had sensed the mana bolt coming with his mana senses, but his perception skill hadn’t detected any lifeforms around him. That meant that the attack had come from at least two hundred feet away. That was how far his sphere of perception extended at the moment.
He closed his eyes as he pushed that sphere outward. Two hundred feet was something Julius had become somewhat comfortable in maintaining. It was a good distance that strained his mind, but not so much that he wore himself out. In large crowds, he was forced to limit the distance even more. But out in the plains, his sphere was able to be quite large without his mind self-combusting.
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However, if he really needed to, he could extend that two hundred feet to more than double. That was precisely what he was doing at the moment. He let his sphere flare out, and he tried to see if he could sense anyone. The only problem with doing this was that his brain couldn't handle the pressure for very long.
He was forced to draw his perception back before his brain ruptured. The farther his sphere traveled, the more severe the strain became. It was only because he had [Phoenix Renewal] that he felt comfortable enough doing that. Even with that, he didn’t like messing with his brain.
He could survive almost anything, but he didn’t know how well he would handle getting his mind scrambled like eggs. It was why people like Lily were so scary.
He sighed when he wasn’t able to sense anyone despite extending his senses. The mana bolt had come out of nowhere, and he wasn’t able to track it down. He didn’t even know if the attack came from the direction the bolt originated from. For all he knew, the bolt was shot from a different position altogether.
“Where are you?” He muttered out into the darkness.
Another bolt raced out from the darkness. This one was different. Something else was added to it. He found out what that difference was very quickly. Unlike the pure bolt of mana he had just experienced, this bolt of mana contained a weird property that was almost invisible to his mana senses.
Instead, it was constructed mainly of aura. He looked on calmly as the bolt slammed against his barrier once again. This time around, the sections of his barrier that were mana were unable to block the bolt. Thankfully, his barrier was made up of both mana and aura.
The aura part held up just fine. It barely shook the structure. Still, it was very intriguing to him. He had rarely come across anyone who used both mana and aura to attack like he did. In most cases, it was one or the other.
He wanted to find this person, so without hesitation, he launched himself toward the direction the last bolt had come from. The board almost ripped from under his feet from how much mana he poured into it.
However, he moved fast. Very fast.
Once he had arrived at the place the bolt had come from, he looked around with his perception skill. Only then did he find out who had attacked him. A part of him had been curious if a monster had attacked him, but no. It was a person, hiding in a group of boulders.
In fact, it was a girl wearing a black cape. She was completely invisible to the eye, even in the moonlight. Whatever kind of cape she was wearing, it distorted all the light, and if not for his spatial skill, he wouldn’t have found her.
She didn’t seem to realize that he had already detected her and was standing very still. He pretended that he had no clue where she was, turning around in circles to sell the act. Only when she seemed comfortable that he didn’t know where she was, did she form two separate bolts.
One was made of pure mana, and the other was made of aura. They formed behind him and were speeding toward his head, silent as a mouse. They didn’t disturb the air or create a shockwave.
His barrier held up against the bolts. Like last time, the bolts weren’t enough to penetrate. But he did feel something attached to these bolts, trying to eat away at his barriers. He used a bit of aura to wipe out whatever technique she was using.
What was even more interesting was that the girl was already retreating. She must have given up now that her ambush didn’t work and was leaving the area. However, he didn’t give her the chance to do so.
He controlled his board and rushed to her position. She was extremely fast, her form was hard to track, and the cape didn’t make it any easier. However, Julius made sure to keep her within his sight.
He sent more mana into the board, making it go even faster. She must have understood that he was tracking her because she flicked her hand in his direction. A massive blast of aura and mana ripped outward. It wasn’t an attack to hurt him, but served a different purpose. To distract him.
His senses and mind were frazzled for a few brief moments, and he was forced to rely on his [Absolute Spatial Perception] to keep track of her. He had to use his focus skill to avoid losing concentration.
That blast of energy was very fascinating. It was like a magical flashbang, and if he hadn’t trained himself not to rely on normal senses, he likely would have lost her. Unfortunately for her, that wasn’t the case.
He continued to blast himself toward her, and despite her fast speed, he caught up to her. She must have sensed him closing in because she suddenly vanished before his hand could grasp the end of her cape.
He didn’t even have time to interrupt her teleportation. He threw out his perception in a wide circle. He had learned most people had to focus for a few brief moments when using teleportation. The main exception was when the teleportation was short-ranged.
He found her swiftly. She wasn’t very far away and had teleported herself in the other direction they had been going in. He had to rip himself back around. The sudden change of direction at the speed he was going didn’t do his body any favors. Thankfully, he was accustomed to kinetic energy, and his body could withstand such drastic changes in acceleration. He absorbed most of the force and used it to propel him back to the girl.
She knew that he was faster than her at this point and must have activated another skill of hers. He felt a sudden surge of mana and aura rush through her body. It was so powerful that it felt like a raging flame to his senses.
However, the increase in her speed was quite spectacular. He tried to keep up by feeding the board with more mana, but it would seem he had reached the board’s limit. No matter how much more mana he added, the board wouldn’t go any faster. He had to stop feeding mana into the item because if he didn’t, the enchantments would break down from the influx of energy.
Instead, he pulled the board back into his ring with a snap of intent. Then the moment his feet touched the ground, he exploded with kinetic energy. He took off like a missile, and within a second, he was already going faster than he had been on the board. He was going so fast that the air resistance was like pins and needles on his skin.
However, he was already closing the distance on her, and it wouldn’t be long until she was within his grasp. He was tempted to shoot some constructs at her, but he didn’t know how much faster his constructs would be able to move, not to mention the time and focus required to shoot them.
Instead, he decided to go with the old-fashioned route. He grinned when he was almost within ten feet of her. However, he suddenly found himself surrounded by a wave of fire. He hadn’t sensed it and wasn’t prepared when it collapsed on top of him.
He couldn't help but laugh at the absurdity of it all.