Path to Transcendence

He noticed straight away that mentioning her name didn’t seem to shock Anna; if anything, she seemed like she expected something like that to come out of his mouth.
“You think it might be her as well,” he noted and leaned back.
Anna shrugged. “Maybe. We don’t know enough information yet.”
Derek hummed from beside Julius. “It would make sense. Of all the people, she might have a connection to the Conclave and is a relatively new and unknown person.”
“You too?” Julius asked his friend.
Derek shrugged. “I can’t say for certain, but she is definitely suspicious.”
Julius was about to say something to Anna, but the door suddenly opened and one of the other Tier 5s who had been next to Anna previously walked into the room. The man, wearing the same uniform as Anna, looked at his colleague.
“You are needed elsewhere, Anna,” the man said without so much as glancing at Julius or his friends.
“I am busy here, Franklin. Tell them they can either wait or have someone else handle it,” she said, waving at him to leave.
“It wasn’t a request, Anna. It was an order directly from the Royal Family," Franklin said calmly.
Anna shifted her jaw and took a slow, deep breath. “Fine,” she said while getting up and grabbing her jacket.
“Please remain here for the time being. I wish to talk with you before I let you go,” she said to him.
Julius shook his head. “I’m sorry, I can’t stay around. I need to do some stuff.”
She laughed at him and smiled, as if amused. “I wasn’t exactly asking. I can’t let you leave until I question you a little more.”
“So I’m a prisoner?” He asked with a frown.
“Hey, don’t forget we are here with you,” Aubrey pointed out.
He looked at her and nodded. “So we are all prisoners?” He amended.
She chuckled. “Don’t be so dramatic. There is a lot of room for you to relax and recover. Your mana channels are clearly strained; you could use some rest. Plus, there are nice snacks in that cabinet over there,” she said, pointing at the large wood cabinet off to the side. “You are more than welcome to help yourselves. I promise I won’t be long.”
Before he could argue again, she was already striding out of the room with the other man following behind her. The door slammed shut, and Julius heard Aubrey grunt unhappily.
“This wasn’t how I was expecting the second stage to go,” she said with a pout.
“Are you surprised? I learned that anything that Julius is a part of usually ends up in shambles,” Edgar noted with a grin.
“That’s not very nice,” Julius said and slouched into his chair.
Derek, on the other hand, was already going over to the cabinet where Anna had said there was some food. He grabbed a selection of snacks and handed them all something. Julius took the food gratefully.
It wasn’t cake, but it was something at least.
They all went over to the couch and collapsed into the soft cushions. He moaned at the softness of the sofa, feeling it envelop his body like a warm hug. He looked at the couch greedily. He wondered if they would mind if he stole the couch before he left.
He was interrupted in his relaxation when Aubrey’s feet whacked him in the chest. He pushed them away. “Get those smelly things out of here.”
“They aren’t smelly,” she said defensively.
“Oh yeah? When’s the last time you took a shower?” He pointed out.
“I took a bath, remember,” she said with a proud smile.
He lifted a finger and put it down. She was right, she had taken a bath. He didn’t know if that counted, but it was technically accurate.
She wiggled them in his face, and before he could snap at them like he was Seraphyne, the door opened.
“Oh, that was quick—” Julius said, trailing off as he looked over at the door. His mouth stayed open when he saw who was there.
Her gorgeous white hair was as it had always been. However, just like he had noticed the other time he had seen her, there was something different about her. He couldn’t put his finger on what that exactly was, though.
Regardless, he didn’t know what to do, so he just waved awkwardly at Reinera.
“Hey,” he said lamely and offered the food in his hand to her. “You want to join us for some snacks?”
Her face, which had her usual princess look on it, shook by the smallest of margins. However, that was all it took for it to come crumbling down. The bright smile he had come to know slowly appeared on her face, and she walked over to him. To his surprise, she actually took his food and bit into it.
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He stood there in shock. He hadn’t actually thought she would accept his offer. He also wanted to eat that, and somewhat regretted offering it to her. He had forgotten that she was as much a glutton as Drasil.
When she passed it back to him, all that was left was a small nibble, not even enough for him to have one full bite.
“I see your appetite hasn’t changed,” he commented.
“You are the one who offered it to me,” she said with a light smile, and looked over at where the others were looking at their interaction.
“Hey,” she said with a shy wave.
Aubrey was the first to come over and wrap Reinera in a tight hug, dragging her over to the couch and having her sit down next to them all.
“I was wondering if we would get to see you. Has your family been keeping you away from us?” Aubrey asked.
Reinera folded her hands in her lap and shook her head. “No, they actually support my relationship with you guys. Even my more stubborn family members don’t have many objections. It doesn’t hurt that you all have quite impressive backgrounds.”
“Me?” Julius and Edgar asked at the same time.
Reinera laughed. “Yes, even you two. With how close you are with Lily, Aubrey, and Derek, people have already grouped you with them.”
“Oh,” Edgar said with a thoughtful expression on his face.
“Wait a minute, why are you here?” Julius asked, finally realizing that her appearance was odd.
“I heard there was something wrong with the second stage. Then I heard that Anna was questioning you, so I came down here to see what was going on.”
“Were you the one who asked Anna to leave?” Derek asked.
Reinera wore a smug smile. “Maybe.”
“So what now?” Julius asked, amused, shaking his head.
“Well, technically, I am supposed to get some answers, but we can catch up a little bit before we get into the serious stuff,” she said with a smile. “So how have you guys been? It feels like forever since I have seen you guys.”
“Oh, you know, the usual. We almost got killed a few times and whatnot, so pretty typical,” Aubrey said with a shrug.
“What?” Reinera asked with raised eyebrows.
“Yeah, but I blame Julius. I think fate wants him dead or something, and we are just along for the ride.”
“That isn’t true,” Julius said with a roll of his eyes.
“Oh yeah? Then what about the Endless Forest?”
“They weren’t even after me,” he pointed out.
She was about to argue, but realized that it was true and backed down. “Okay, fair. But you have to admit that you are a magnet for trouble.”
He couldn’t even say anything against that either. It was true.
Reinera looked confused but interrupted their little back-and-forth. “Okay, can you guys tell me what happened? I wouldn’t normally rush you guys, but it seems that the monster you guys were attacked by wasn’t the only incident in the realm.”
“What other problems were there?”
“The array that maintains the realm is damaged. This means that we won’t be able to use the realm like normal for at least a couple of years, depending on the extent of the damage. We are still evaluating how bad it is,” she explained.
“What is so bad about that? Doesn’t that just mean you won’t be able to use the realm for the tournament and such?” Julius asked with a frown.
“Not only that, but there are some unique features and benefits we receive from the realm. Without access, we will be hindered for the next couple of years. Whoever did this has been planning this for a long time. They managed to infiltrate our defenses and sneak their way in,” Reinera added.
“And what? You guys think it's the Conclave?” He asked.
“Maybe, but we think some other countries or organizations are involved as well.”
“That sucks,” he said while biting his lower lip. The Conclave was already a big pain. He really didn’t want to deal with even more interested parties.
Speaking of the Conclave, he still hadn’t heard from Edwin yet. He had been supposed to contact House Violet or House Zenith, but there hasn’t been any word as of yet. Julius was worried something might have happened.
“No offense, but I don’t know how much of a help I will be. I fought the chimera, but honestly, I don’t have much valuable information. And to be honest, I don’t really want to leave your family with a memory of the fight. I really don’t need them having all of that sensitive information,” he said to her.
She waved his concerns away. “Don’t worry about that. You shouldn’t have to divulge any information about your skills. I will make sure that you don’t have to. But can you tell me about what the monster was like at the very least? Like what kind of skills it used and the overall strength of it?”
He didn’t see a problem with that. He wasn’t the only person who saw the chimera, but maybe what he knew might help them figure out who was behind all of this, and so he told her mostly everything.
When he was finished, she looked at him with a look of disbelief. “You still somehow can surprise me,” she said with a chuckle.
“What?” He asked in confusion.
“A powerful Tier 4 with regenerative capabilities? Sounds like an absolute nightmare to deal with. And you took care of it yourself?”
“Well, Isaac was there,” he added.
“God, I almost forgot how monstrously strong you are,” she said with a grin.
“You’re one to talk. It seems like you have already advanced to Tier 4,” he said to her with a shake of his head.
Her eyes widened. “ You can tell? How did you know?” She asked in surprise.
“I didn’t, but now I do,” he said with a shit eating grin. He hadn’t been a hundred percent certain, but there were too many weird signs from her aura. At first, he was nervous that she was an imposter, but the closer he inspected her aura and body, he realized that something had changed within her.
Something powerful and dangerous was brimming just underneath the surface.
“You already advanced to Tier 4?” Aubrey asked in astonishment.
Reinera turned and nodded at Aubrey. “Yeah, when I arrived back at the Capital, my family sensed that I was ready to awaken my bloodline and forced me to advance. I wear a shroud that hides it, but as you showed, it doesn’t always work.”
“I wonder if this means you can finally beat me,” Julius said with a challenging grin.
He saw her eyes shimmer with amusement. “Oh, trust me, I got very strong. I don’t know if you and all your broken skills can beat me with all the advantages I have now.”
He tilted his head. “Advantages?”
She chuckled. “Yeah, my bloodline gave me quite a powerful boost when I advanced to Tier 4.”
Julius felt his heart race a little bit when he saw how confident she looked. Perhaps, they would have to spar a little bit in the near future. He wanted to know if she could back up her words.
However, that was an idea for later. For now, he would just enjoy their time together and worry about that stuff another day.