Path to Transcendence

Julius was tearing through the levels for [Fighter\'s Will]. It wouldn\'t be long until he was able to evolve it.

Sadly, Declan had to get back to his duties, leaving Julius alone in the guardhouse. He told him he was free to explore and let him know where the market was. It seemed that Declan had even sensed the cores Julius was carrying and was kind enough to point him to a place where could sell them.

That was where Julius was headed. He wanted to sell his cores to get some money. He was fortunate that he didn\'t have to pay for room and board, but he would still like some coin. According to Declan the entrance exam for Goldencrest was in a few days. Julius was lucky, he had made it here just in time. He didn\'t know if he could still take it if he missed it or if he would have to wait for next semester, but he was glad he didn\'t need to find out. So while he might not have a lot of time before the exam, he still wanted to explore the city a little bit before then.

Declan said he would sign Julius up for it and all he needed to do was show up. Julius didn\'t know what would be on the exam, it was a secret that not even Lukas was privy to. Julius knew affinities played a large part but there have been cases where those without excellent or perfect affinities got in. He was hoping that he would also be one of those exceptions.

Julius finally made it to the market that Declan directed him to. There were many permanent shops set up in buildings but there was also a large square where many merchants set up their tents. Declan told him to find a shop named Albert\'s Emporium, he said that the man was trustworthy and wouldn\'t scam a child.

It took him some time and asking a couple of people for directions, but eventually he found the shop. There was a large simple sign stating, "Albert\'s Emporium" over the front door. Confident that he found the place, Julius walked through the door. There were several people inside shopping around. However, he walked up to the counter, where an older gentleman was sitting.

"Hi, are you Albert?" Julius asked the man.

"Yep, what can I do for you sonny?" The man said.

"Declan told me you would buy cores for a good price," Julius said.

"Well I don\'t know about a good price, but I do buy them. Let\'s see what you have," Albert waved his arm at the counter.

Julius took the two normal troll cores out of his new pants, placing them down on the felt mat. The man picked one of them up with a pair of gloves and examined them.

"Hmm, Tier 3 life core, not something you see often, especially on a kid. You selling it for someone?" Julius nodded in affirmation, nobody would have believed him if he said he hunted them himself. "This one doesn\'t have any wood or nature aspects, so I assume it was from some sort of monster with a healing factor. At Tier 3, it is probably from a troll or something similar." Albert decided after a moment.

Julius was impressed, the man got it spot on. "Yes, they are cores from trolls. How much would you buy them for?"

Julius didn\'t know much about currency or what the cost of normal things was in this world. He knew that ten coppers for a silver coin, ten silvers for a gold coin, and ten gold for a platinum coin. But other than that, he had no idea what the general market price for a Tier 3 life affinity core was. However, he did see a Tier 3 water core on the wall above the counter selling for two gold, so he expected something close to that.

"I could take them off your hands for three gold and four silver," Albert offered Julius.

"How much would you sell them for?" Julius decided to straight up ask the man.

Albert paused, thinking about how he was going to answer. "I would probably sell them for two gold each."

"Really? Even though that water core is selling for two gold, I thought life cores were less common than water cores." Julius pointed out with an innocent face.

Julius could see the man try to hide a grimace. "Probably a silver or two more," he admitted.

"You can have them for four gold," Julius told the man.

"No way, four gold is too much, three and eight silver is the most I will do. Even for a friend of Declan." Albert refuted.

"Nine silver and you got a deal," Julius said as he reached out a hand.

Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

The man looked at his hand and gave him the first inkling of a smile since Julius came in. "Okay three gold and nine silver, you got a deal," he said as he shook Julius\'s hand.

"So how much would you really sell them for?" Julius asked Albert as he was counting out the coins.

"I could probably get close to two and a half to three gold right now, but if I hold onto them until the price goes up then maybe four," Albert told him.

"And what would be the most you would have given me?"

"You did pretty well, I would have been willing to part with a couple extra silver, but not much," Albert said.

Julius was glad, for his time it wasn\'t a bad result, at least he didn\'t get completely ripped off. Now he had some money to spend. He browsed through the man\'s store to see if there was anything he wanted to buy. He did find a pack that he liked, it was small but it would be able to carry enough for Julius. It was only a silver and four copper for the thing and the man just let him have it without paying anything for it.

He thanked the man and left his store, heading toward a place that sold food. Julius found a row of stalls that all served street food. They had everything, ranging from roasted meat on sticks to stuffed pastries. Over several hours Julius tried everything. By the time he was completely stuffed, he had managed to fit three separate skewers, two pastries, a few rolls, and something that looked like a corn dog but tasted like a caramel apple down his gullet. It was amazing and the best part, it cost him less than three silvers total.

He didn\'t realize how much a single gold coin could buy, he was quite ignorant considering his upbringing, but now he understood how much money he had in his pocket. It had him grabbing his pockets several times during his adventure, making sure nobody had snatched it away while he wasn\'t paying attention.

It was getting late by now and Julius started to head back, enjoying his little trip immensely. When he got back to the guardhouse, there were two different guards on duty, but Julius didn\'t have to explain anything, they just stepped aside and let him through.

Someone must\'ve told them about me, was it the previous rotation or was it Declan? Julius wasn\'t sure.

Julius took the time to explore the building a little bit. The main floor had things like the common room, kitchen, and a library, Julius might check the latter out later. There were several more floors, but it appeared they were mainly for either storage or living spaces for the guards who didn\'t have their own houses.

He found himself in the outer courtyard behind the building. It looked like it was a training area for the guards. He could see equipment and groups of younger guards going through drills directed by an instructor.

Julius was tempted to ask if he could join them. However, he didn\'t want to interrupt them and he could ask Declan later.

Declan came back around dinner time and ate with Julius in the common room. He introduced Julius to many of the guards, he even got to see Orus again, this time out of his armor. The man was still just as massive without it, but it turned out he was quite shy. Julius sat next to him and Declan throughout dinner. He didn\'t forget to ask Declan about him joining in some of the guard\'s drills.

"Are you sure? I don\'t disagree that it would be a good decision, but the entrance exam is in a few days," Declan said to Julius.

"Yeah it would give me something to do in the meantime and I was thinking once I learn the drills I could still do them at the academy," Julius responded.

Orus overheard their conversation and joined in, "You\'ve mentioned Goldencrest a few times, you seem confident that you will be accepted. Do you have an excellent or perfect affinity?"

"Nope, just a high, but I did hear from my uncle that although the academy puts a heavy emphasis on affinities, they also care a lot about practical abilities, it\'s just that most children my age don\'t have the experience yet to do that well on the practical," Julius turned to Orus.

"I never went to Goldencrest, I went to Western Hills Academy when I was your age, but my fiance got a really nice job offer so we ended up moving across the entire empire to Heston. But Declan here did go to Goldencrest, and I believe he was a top graduate even." Orus pointed at Declan who was in the middle of swiping the remnants of his meal with a piece of buttered bread.

Julius turned back to Declan with his mouth full of bread. "You didn\'t mention that. What was the exam like?" Julius asked while spraying some crumbs over the table.

Declan finished chewing his food before he answered. "We are forced to swear not to reveal any information on the entrance exam. If the proctors find out if an applicant had someone share the details then they are usually penalized. Not to mention the exam is slightly different every semester."

"Do you think I have a good chance at least?" Julius asked him.

"It\'s hard to say. I can say that combat prowess is a significant factor but it is hard to tell when I have never seen you fight before." Declan answered Julius.

"Why don\'t you two find out after dinner then? Use the sparring area out back and you can see where Julius stands." Orus suggested to them.

It wasn\'t a bad idea, as Julius had been planning to sneak out there later tonight anyway. Having a little training session with Declan sounded exciting.

"I\'m down for that. What about you old man?" Julius teased Declan.

Declan looked up from his empty plate, "Old man?" He asked.

"Yeah, I mean unless you are too nervous, then we don\'t need to do it." Julius further antagonized him. He really wanted to fight Declan and was hoping he would take the bait.

Orus on the other hand was looking at Julius like he grew a second head, horrified to see him talking to his Vice-Captain like that.

Declan on the other hand didn\'t say anything and got up, taking his tray to the bin, and started to walk out. Maybe Julius pushed him too far.

"What are doing? I thought we were going to spar. Unless you\'re too nervous." Declan threw his words back at him and headed for the courtyard.

Julius jumped up, cleaning up his tray and following Declan quickly. Orus also got up to follow but was mumbling something about "crazy kids" under his breath.