Path to Transcendence

There wasn’t much to do except wait. The doors were still closed, and despite people’s best efforts, no one could pry them open. They still had a whole day until the last day, so they used it to explore the surrounding area. The main issue was that everyone else had a similar idea, and it quickly became evident that there was nothing left to explore except the temple nearby.
Still, it was nice to relax and train with his newfound crown that was flickering on his head. The thing was an annoying little shit, and he was forced to take it off the night before, when he was cooking. He tried to use it at the beginning, but when he almost melted all of his equipment and torched the food, he came to the conclusion that it wasn’t worth it.
He was fine with burning himself until he was nothing but a dry husk, but he wasn’t okay with ruining perfectly good kitchen equipment, and especially not food.
They ended up choosing a different place to stay. It was still within the no-hostility boundary, but farther away, with more privacy.
He looked over when he sensed someone crossing the barrier he had set up. When he saw it was Derek, he stopped messing around with the crown and stood up.
Derek didn’t look very pleased when he came back to report to them. A vexed expression was plastered all over his face. Small bits of lightning magic cracked all around him.
“What did you find out?” Aubrey asked him curiously, also noticing his expression.
“Not much. But from what other people believe, Garrett and the group following him are going to make a move tomorrow morning, on the last day that the realm is open. They seem very convinced that something will change tomorrow,” Derek explained.
“Is that it? You looked like someone just kicked you in the balls,” Aubrey noted with concern.
Derek pressed his lips together into a thin line. “He has a lot of really strong Tier 3s working with him.”
“Who? Garrett?” Edgar asked.
Derek nodded stiffly. “Yeah. He has Riven Briarwood, Eva Nightgale, Casey Vale, Louis Helvat, and even Eren is a part of that group.”
Julius looked at them curiously, wondering if these names had any significance. He recognized one or two of the names, but he was pretty shit with names, so he wasn’t too sure.
However, Aubrey and Edgar both seemed to know who these people were. A matching pair of frowns appeared on their faces. It looked like each of them bit into a sour lemon.
“What? Am I missing something?” Julius asked.
“They are some of the favorites to win the tournament. Riven Briarwood is the most talented mage of our generation. He has a perfect affinity for fire, water, earth, and wind magic. His master, Archmage Valis, is a man capable of leveling an entire city by himself. Eva Nightgale is Riven’s childhood friend and a scary assassin in her own right,” Derek explained.
“What about the other ones? I know who Casey Vale is, but who are the other two?” Julius asked.
If he remembered correctly, Casey Vale was someone who used soul magic or some kind of variation of it. She was also the same person he believed had prodded his aura during the first stage. The more he heard of her, the more he was sure of it.
“Louis Helvat is someone from House Greyson’s camp. His family is quite close with the Ducal House, and Louis is one of their budding talents. From what I have heard, he uses quite powerful defensive magic. As for Eren, well, let’s just say he is a monster. In my opinion, he is the person who is most likely to win the entire tournament,” Derek said with a shake of his head.
“Oh? He’s that strong?” Julius asked with sparkling eyes.
Derek nodded solemnly. “Yes.”
“Wait, is he the one who summoned all of those swords from the sky?” Julius asked, remembering one of the fights from the first stage.
“Yeah, that is him. He is the disciple of the Sage of Falling Swords, another monster on the same level as Archmage Valis.”
“Sounds exciting,” Julius murmured to himself quietly. However, he must not have been quiet enough because Aubrey gave him a soft, reprimanding whack on the shoulder.
“This isn’t a joking matter. If they have actually decided to team up, then it will cause some serious problems for everyone in the realm.”
Derek pointed his head toward her in agreement. “He might be as strong or stronger than you. According to the reports House Zenith has received, Eren is well known for consistently beating Tier 4s while still in Tier 3. The only other person I have seen or heard doing something like that has been you.”
Aubrey and Edgar nodded with him, looking like they were thinking deeply.
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On the other hand, Julius liked the sound of that. Someone who could also beat Tier 4s with regularity? That was indeed very impressive. He would know; he has done it on multiple occasions. However, he didn’t like the fact that they believed that Julius was weaker than this Eren person.
So what if he was the disciple of a Sage? Julius was the most favored disciple of Cain. And while Cain had only a single disciple, the achievement was still quite impressive.
Still, he didn’t let it bother him too much. It wasn’t like they could know for certain. There was really only one real way to find out.
Furthermore, he had a slight inkling that the person he had fought a couple of days ago was indeed Riven. Julius saw small bits of Riven’s fight in the first stage, but he was wearing a completely different robe, and his face had been obscured, so it was hard to know for sure.
However, knowing that Riven had a perfect affinity for all four basic elements made Julius believe his gut feeling was right. The mage he had fought had used both fire, wind, and earth magic to a pretty extreme degree. Their skill in spatial magic and runic circles had been powerful as well. If there were someone who fit the criteria of being ‘the most talented mage of their generation’, then the mage Julius fought would certainly be one of the candidates.
He honestly didn’t know who he would rather fight first. He hoped he could fight all of them. That would be the best-case scenario for him.
He looked up into the sky, letting his daydreams fill his brain.
***
When the morning came, there was a significant shift in the atmosphere. The people were on edge, gathered around the temple’s entrance. The large doors glowed softly, and the light grew brighter with each passing minute.
The thing that had everyone worried was that a large group of several dozen people was guarding the entrance. It was the group that Garrett Greyson had gathered, and Julius could see why his friends had been nervous.
There were a good number of strong people in the group. Not to mention how many more people were in this group than in the next-largest one. He saw one group with a dozen people, but that was about it.
He had asked Derek why he hadn’t decided to amass a group himself. According to the Zenith Scion, that was much harder to do than Julius made it sound. It wasn’t just a matter of convincing others that the large group was a threat; there were other things to consider as well.
For example, political relations were a big thing. A lot of the people participating in the tournament were part of a noble House, so they couldn’t just team up casually. Not when it could reflect poorly on their part.
Plus, what would hold them together? How could they be sure that someone wouldn’t shove a knife in their backs the second they were turned around? Trust was a fickle thing, and Julius couldn’t imagine what House Greyson might have guaranteed to the others to gain it.
Not to mention, Derek's grandfather seemed pretty deadset on having Derek earn his placement rather than relying on the Zenith name to do so.
That’s what made this group so odd. How did Garrett or House Greyson bring this entire group together? What did they promise? Or what was their goal?
He also didn’t know how or why they had decided to interfere with Julius’s first stage fight.
He was still convinced that House Greyson had something to do with it. With this current showing, he was more inclined to believe it as well. If they could collect a group this large with this many talents, then convincing a dozen people to harass Julius should be pretty easy in comparison.
For the time being, Julius and his friends stayed back, observing silently from far away. They wanted to see what this group would do before they decided on a course of action.
The glow on the doors eventually reached a peak, and to his shock, the pillar of light that had been shooting upwards disappeared in the blink of an eye. He had slowly gotten accustomed to the bright light, but now it felt like all of the light had been sucked out of the sky despite the sun still shining overhead.
Then, while everyone was looking around, confused at the situation, the doors slowly started to open.
Of course, this only made the people freak out, and before they had even opened up a couple of feet, Julius saw several people blast themselves toward the entrance. This only set off the others, and everyone started storming the doors.
It was chaos and absolute madness.
And that was why he laughed loudly when he saw dozens of bodies suddenly flying backwards. There was some kind of force field around the entrance still, and the people who were trying to force their way inside were launched off their feet.
It was pretty amusing to watch, and it took a surprising amount of time for everyone to realize what was going on. It took even more time for people to reorganize. He chuckled when he saw the people who were thrown into the sky pretending that nothing happened.
Over an hour passed, and the doors were open, but no one could get inside. Even Julius and his friends were getting confused.
It was only when he heard people start making noise about something that he returned his attention to the doors. He frowned at what he saw.
A figure in a brilliant white and gold robe slowly approached the doors from within the temple. They looked like a human male, but Julius couldn’t help but wonder if they really were. The other people had the same concern.
The man had some of the most interesting eyes he had ever seen. They were almost an exact replica of the pillar of light. A bright iridescent light, and they shimmered beautifully. He looked like an angel walking out of the doors of heaven.
Some rowdy people rushed in and approached this man the moment he crossed the threshold. Their impatience and greed were clearly written on their faces.
They got within inches of the man and continued walking impassively past these people. Julius watched with trepidation as the angelic man gave these people only a cursory glance and acted as if he didn’t really care about them.
It was only when one particularly impatient person grabbed the person by the shoulder that something happened.
An explosion of mana ripped out of the mysterious figure, and everyone within five feet was turned to ash. There was nothing said, not a warning, not a whisper. One moment, they were there, and the next, they weren't.
Julius and his friends looked on with wide eyes at the display.
Everyone else had similar reactions. Instantly, there were twenty feet between the figure and the nearest person.
Killing a dozen people without so much as a twitch would typically cause that reaction.