Path to Transcendence

Edwin could recognize a fellow training maniac when he saw one. At thirteen years old, Julius was unlike any other child his age. Most of his peers were content running around playing games with their friends, but Julius was different. Edwin had begun Julius\'s training over a year ago and was surprised at how dedicated Julius was. Many would see Julius as a child who was getting pushed too hard by Edwin and was only doing this much because he was being pressured. However, Edwin realized that Julius really, and he meant really loved it. It was alarming how much Julius enjoyed getting beat up and doing boring mana exercises every day for countless hours.

Even Edwin who was known as a training junkie in his younger days, wasn\'t this obsessed. Edwin knew that Julius\'s work ethic would bring him far. He knew exactly what hard work could do for advancement.

The only thing that had stunted Edwin\'s advancement was his poor foundation and his lack of knowledge. He was a hard worker but he didn\'t know enough about his shadow affinity when he tiered up, thus some imperfections limited his ability to reach Tier 5. Combat ability-wise, he was the cream of the crop of Tier 4 but until he cleaned up his path, he would forever remain a Tier 4.

That was one of the main reasons he accepted Lukas\'s offer all those years ago. He already knew his foundation would be the thing that prevented him from advancing further. And Lukas had offered him the resources to fix it.

Tier 5 was a barrier that separated the good from the great. Most talented individuals could reach Tier 4 with time as long as they survived. However, Edwin believed what separated the Tier 5\'s from Tier 4\'s was their ability to push themselves. Unless one goes beyond their limits, they won\'t ever become Tier 5.

That was why Edwin chose to train Julius. He truly believed Julius had what it took to cross this barrier. He certainly had the work ethic. But mostly, Julius enjoyed training.

It surprised Edwin just how fast Julius adapted to his training. When they first started sparring, Julius was timid and unconfident in his approach. Now, Julius fought like a demon. Aggressive and decisive, were the best descriptors Edwin could think of. Julius\'s style revolved around taking two hits for every one he gave. He didn\'t mind taking a knee or two in the stomach if it meant he got to punch you in the face in return.

Normally, Edwin would dissuade such an aggressive style of fighting. His own style was more about countering and avoiding direct conflicts. Julius was the opposite, he used every angle and every potential leverage point he could to gain an advantage over his opponent. It was gritty and violent. The young fighter also quickly learned to use his fighting style\'s weakness as a weapon. Edwin began to notice Julius would wait for Edwin to capitalize on his aggression, and create himself an opening to strike.

Julius\'s instincts when it came to fighting were honestly frightening. But Edwin was certain those instincts were going to save his life many times over the years. Which was the whole point of this training.

Julius swept his leg out towards Edwin\'s left knee trying to smash his kneecap. When it missed he closed in on Edwin, not letting him have a chance to retaliate. He threw a flurry of punches looking for any openings. He took a couple of shots but maintained his aggression. He couldn\'t allow Edwin to sit back and pick him apart.

There. Edwin hadn\'t quite predicted his feint and Julius launched a kick right at Edwin\'s temple. Unfortunately, Edwin was quick and managed to step into Julius\'s kick and grab him around the thigh. He then proceeded to smash his fist into Julius\'s torso and simultaneously sweep out his other leg from underneath then tossed him like a sack of potatoes across the training yard.

Edwin calmly stepped back and Julius stayed on the floor soaked in sweat and sore all over.

[Focus] has reached threshold. [Focus lvl 6 -> Focus lvl 7]

[Unarmed Combat] has reached threshold. [Unarmed Combat lvl 8 -> Unarmed Combat lvl 9]

A double level-up was rare, but more than welcome at this point. He had now reached the bottleneck stage in [Unarmed Combat], which Edwin mentioned was a skill that usually upgraded at level 10. Each rank-up reset a skills level to 0, but it also meant the next level requirement would be 5 levels higher. For example, when [Unarmed Combat] reached level 10, he would receive an option to evolve the skill. Once he did, it would become an Uncommon skill at level 0. If he wanted to rank it up to Rare, he would have to get it to level 15, and so on.

Name: Julius Von Hyperius

Tier: 0

Skills:

[Spatial Perception lvl 16] (Rare)

[Unarmed Combat lvl 9]

[Focus lvl 7]

His [Spatial Perception] skill had grown to level 15 before he finally felt its accelerated growth slow down. But it proved how much work he had put into the skill beforehand. He was going to miss the rapid level-ups, it seemed the higher the rank and level were, the more difficult it became to level up a skill. The single level from 15 to 16 took over a month to achieve. However, the effects increased in proportion to the skill\'s rank and level too. Therefore, the one level up provided a significant boost to how far he could extend it and how long he was able to keep it active. He would estimate that he could now perceive twenty percent farther than before and could maintain the skill up for ten to thirty percent longer, depending on circumstances.

Julius was also very close to condensing his core. He probably only had a few days left until his preparations were complete. Which meant Tier 1 was right around the corner. Not having a core really put a limit on how much mana he could use without regressing his progress. It also made it more difficult to gain more skills. Most active skills require some usage of mana to operate. He has been lucky in acquiring two active skills: [Spatial Perception] and [Focus], that didn\'t require any mana, just mental energy.

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He already had an idea for a skill once he condensed his core. It would cover a lot of his weaknesses in close combat.

Julius had a lot of thoughts on his mind while he was walking to the kitchen. Although, his schedule was extremely packed already he couldn\'t keep up with just fighting and training all day. He needed something to do that he could just relax and chill out. A hobby or project that didn\'t have anything to do with getting better.

The first thing he thought of was cooking. He and his gramps would spend a lot of time cooking together, and he missed the simple activity of just making food. Therefore, Julius had begun cooking meals for Edwin, his uncle, and himself, trying to do it at least once a day. It was oddly relaxing.

Julius was almost fourteen years old and for the majority of the past two years, he had not done anything except for sparring, meditating, and exercising his mana control. By cooking he was able to remind himself that there was more to life than getting stronger.

Tonight he was planning to make something for the three of them. He didn\'t know what he wanted to make exactly but he was thinking something a little lighter. It has been a hot summer this year and maybe some fresh fish would be nice.

Luckily, it seemed like much of the cuisine in this world was similar to what existed in his old one. There were still the same proteins like beef, pork, poultry, and fish, just with a lot more variations. For tonight he wanted to see what was already available in the pantry before he decided.

This world didn\'t have technology on the level of his previous one, but they still had some impressive inventions in their own right. Instead of refrigerators, they had coolers the size of a small chest that were enchanted with spatial expansion magic and could fit enough food to fill a small room. They were also enchanted with magic that preserved food for much longer durations than what was natural.

Additionally, their water system was amazing. They didn\'t need to pipe water in from anywhere. As long as you had a water affinity stone or crystal and had mana to supply it with. You are able to have clean water at any time. This world might not have the internet but it certainly has things that many in his old world would dream of.

Julius finally made it to the kitchen and said hello to the workers who were still around. There usually weren\'t many people in this particular kitchen because this wing of the mansion only housed a few members. The majority of the rest of the members lived on the other side of the mansion, which is why Julius rarely saw anyone else other than the workers.

This also meant that he had most of the kitchen to himself. Which was also very nice.

Julius checked the pantry for what was still left over from the day. He spotted several portions of white fish and a healthy selection of vegetables. Grabbing what he needed he began preparing dinner.

Julius decided to make a quick marinade for the fish. He used some citrus-like fruit that reminded him of a lemon, it was yellow but about the size of a small melon. There were also these flower petals that tasted similar to chili but had this weirdly sweet component as well. He also added some herbs that were in pots on the window sill.

As Julius let the fish marinate for a little bit, he started on the rice. It was surprising that they had rice in this world but it was also much more delicious than typical rice. It was soft and had an innate richness that paired well with almost everything.

Afterward, he also prepped the medley of vegetables. He was going to grill them with the fish. There was something that he never expected, cooking with an open fire that was made by mana could influence the flavor. It was similar to how charcoal imparts a delicious smoky element but on another level. The best way to describe it was magical. It literally exploded with flavor on his palate.

As such, it seemed that much of the food made in this world was cooked over an open flame. Julius couldn\'t blame them. Even vegetables, depending on the variety, could end up tasting sweet, spicy, or citrusy just from the mana flame.

Julius took the fish out of the marinade and placed it on the grill, alongside the vegetables. The fish hit the fire with a satisfying sizzle. The smell of citrus and chilies emanated from the fire, making his mouth water.

Julius smiled. These moments reminded him of simpler days. Days where he and his gramps would be camping out in the middle of the wilderness, catching fish and grilling them on an open campfire. He missed those moments, and the more time that passed, the more he cherished those memories.

Julius was lying in bed just playing around with his mana. He learned that mana manipulation was like a muscle in a lot of ways. Only by constantly using and stressing it, could it become stronger. It also required a lot of creativity to find entertaining ways to practice, otherwise, it would be too much of a bore to repeat the same exercises over and over.

Right now, Julius was trying to replicate one of Edwin\'s tricks. Edwin had managed to wrap his mana around several objects at one time and then simultaneously move them in complete synchrony. Edwin didn\'t share the particular method he used to do it, he just told Julius to figure it out himself.

Wrapping mana around an object was much harder than Edwin made it out to be. The first attempts Julius made showed how much finesse was required. He couldn\'t entirely wrap his mana around the ball he was using as practice, it was like he was trying to grab a wet bar of soap. The harder he tried the more slippery it reacted. It was much easier to shove the object in one direction or the other, but having absolute control of the object\'s movements was another challenge entirely.

Julius didn\'t think he could create such a delicate shell of mana around the ball as Edwin managed, but he thought he could brute force it. If Edwin\'s was like a layer of skin, his would be like an inflated sumo wrestler suit. It worked, kind of. Julius at least managed to control a single object with pure mana, but it was clunky and wasteful, and there was no way he could control more than one object with it. Therefore, the first thing he was going to practice was reducing how much mana he used to control an object. This is why he was holding the ball in the air above him, while slowly taking away layer by layer of mana until there was only a delicate shell like Edwin\'s, or the shaping failed and he dropped it.

Julius still hadn\'t told Edwin about removing his [Mana Manipulation] skill. He was too scared of what Edwin might do to him if he found out. But it also became even more motivation for him to practice his mana. Every day without fail he would spend several hours finding creative ways to use mana while also still not wasting a single speck of it.

Julius knew what kind of results challenging himself could have. Whenever he could, he was shaping mana into something. Even when he was getting beat down by Edwin in the yard he tried to maintain some mana.

Due to his efforts, his ability to shape mana was coming along nicely. He could feel his control was even beyond the level of when he had been using the skill. Also, with being able to accumulate mana now, Julius got a little more greedy and controlled larger amounts at a time. This meant that it was more difficult and wasteful, but it also increased his rate of improvement. To Julius, his success proved his hypothesis that [Mana Manipulation] was a crutch and that he was better off not learning it.