Path to Transcendence

He still felt the person\'s hand tucked tightly into his and turned to see who was still grabbing his hand. And he was slightly shocked to see who it was. A pair of sparkling rainbow eyes that had hints of panic stared up at him.

Huh, not who I thought it would be, he thought to himself. He had originally believed that it was either Tia or Nessa, perhaps even a nervous Polux who had grabbed ahold of his hand. He didn\'t expect to see Reinera there holding his hand.

Once they met gazes, she quickly removed her hand from his. "I\'m sorry, I just…" She trailed off as if she didn\'t know what to say.

For the moment, Julius ignored her apology and took a look around. The cavern was replaced with a narrow corridor, something that he had previously been expecting when they entered the rift. It was still dim and the only lighting was from the small number of lanterns hanging from the walls.

Where the hell are we?

However, there was a much larger issue. Unlike the cavern, when he sent out a pulse of [Spatial Perception] he ended up detecting several monsters far down the hallway. The walls were still blocking most of his skill, but he could still sense around the nearby corners.

When he noticed that the princess who was with him was about to speak again, he held up his hand and covered her mouth. He felt her freeze when he touched her, but she didn\'t try to pull away, which was weird. He honestly thought that a princess would hate being touched by a stranger like him.

He took the time to take a look at the person who he was seemingly stuck with. Her brilliant silverish-white hair was a stark contrast to the dark and dreary stone walls around them. Her eyes were literally glowing in the dark as well.

She doesn\'t exactly blend in, does she?

Eventually, she carefully pulled his hand away from her mouth. "What? Do you sense something?" she asked him in a quiet whisper.

He noticed that she hadn\'t let go of his hand right away and was still holding it in her hand. He gave it a pointed look and she dropped it quickly after she realized what she was doing, her blush was subtle in the darkness, but he could still see it.

"At least six monsters ahead," he told her before sending out more pulses, trying to penetrate the walls of the labyrinth.

Julius was feeling very confused at the moment. He had so many questions.

He had no idea why there was a teleportation circle in the middle of the rift. He didn\'t even know if they were still in the same rift. That teleportation had taken them here, but for what purpose?

Was it an attempt on the princess\'s life? That seemed the most plausible answer, but why go through all of these complications? If they managed to set up a teleportation circle wouldn\'t they be able to just kill her directly instead?

Or perhaps they were hoping to separate the princess from the professor and the others, hoping that the monsters would kill her for them.

It was a very odd predicament, one that he wanted nothing more than to ask the girl next to him about.

He quietly walked down the hallway, away from the group of monsters he sensed. He was assuming that this was still a labyrinth type, considering their current environment. That meant that there should be multiple ways to the exit.

When he didn\'t sense anything with his perception skill, he finally turned to the princess.

"Do you know what is happening here?" He asked her bluntly.

She winced and gave him a guilty look. "I have a suspicion," she admitted.

He gave her a blank look. "Well, whenever you want to let me in the know, I am listening."

She started to pick at her fingers anxiously, something he noted as familiar.

"This might have been an assassination attempt on me," she said carefully.

"I guessed that might have been the case, but where I am having a hard time understanding the reason for all of this," he said while waving at their predicament.

She nodded gravely. "I\'m guessing that whoever wants me dead can\'t make it so obvious. That\'s the reason for the teleportation circle. It\'s not exactly a new way to kill a noble before. There have been similar cases when they want to make it look like an accident or to shift the blame, they use these kinds of methods to do so," she explained with a frown.

Julius pinched his nose. "Why not just kill everyone immediately instead? That could still look like an accident."

She shook her head. "Not with Professor Rowe there with us. If something was able to kill a Tier 4 in a Tier 2 rift, it would be too suspicious."

"And this isn\'t?" He asked doubtfully.

"This way there are more options to explain what went wrong. A random teleportation circle in a labyrinth is not unheard of, it is actually a common trap at the higher tiered rifts. While it shouldn\'t be in a rift that Goldencrest controls, it can be chalked up as a mistake on behalf of the school. And if I were to die, then who\'s to say that I didn\'t die in the transport?" She said bitterly.

This narrative has been purloined without the author\'s approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

"But we didn\'t," Julius pointed out, like it wasn\'t obvious.

"No, but I assume whoever planned this expected that. If I die to the monsters in here, then who\'s to know any different?"

"Are you saying that the others are probably okay?" Julius asked, a little concern for his team seeping into his voice.

"Oh, it is highly likely that they were transported out of the rift and are safe and sound. You can\'t exactly kill over half a dozen prominent scions and risk offending their families."

"And yet it\'s okay to kill you?" Julius asked.

"I\'m a princess with a target on my back. It certainly will not come as a surprise, it\'s just a part of the game. People will know it\'s an assassination, but if there is no hard evidence, nobody can really do anything about it," she said sadly.

"You sound like you are already accepting your death," Julius said accusingly.

She gave a harsh chuckle. "You think the people who set this up would just allow me to fight my way out? No no, they are going to make sure that I am going to be buried here," she said with another bitter laugh. "I can\'t imagine what they had to do in order to get access to Goldencrest\'s rifts, but it was well played."

Julius frowned. He really didn\'t like how bleak she was sounding. It sounded like she had already given up. "Maybe you shouldn\'t be throwing in the towel so early. I don\'t know if you are aware of this, but I am with you as well. And I can promise you that I don\'t have any plans to die in this rift."

"Have you taken a good look at the mana around us? I don\'t think we are in the same Tier 2 rift anymore. I don\'t know what they did, but the air has a quality that is like a Tier 3 rift," she quietly stated to him.

He did as she said and quickly realized that she was right. Somehow the mana was similar to how the Tier 3 rift he had delved into felt.

She must have seen his reaction because she continued. "I know. I am so sorry for pulling you into this," she apologized to him with a guilty face, she was almost on the verge of crying.

Wait, when she grabbed my hand did that mean she had taken me with her? If she hadn\'t done that, wouldn\'t that mean I would be safe with the others?

With this new realization, he looked at her with cold and judgemental eyes. I guess a drowning person will take down anyone in reach, huh?

"So why did you? If you had an idea of what was happening why would you pull me down with you?" he asked calmly, glad that [Sage of Savagery] was active.

At that, she seemed to finally break down. Tears started to trickle down her face. "I didn\'t realize it until it was too late. It was just… instinctual," she finally stammered out.

"Instinctual, huh? Your first instinct when you are dying is to take someone along with you, is that it?" He scathingly asked. He knew he probably shouldn\'t be venting his frustrations on her but he was very annoyed. He didn\'t appreciate that he had been dragged into this.

She just put her head down and continued to cry. He let out a frustrated exhale. He turned to the other direction where the monsters had been. Honestly, I can always just go my own way. It\'s not like a Tier 3 rift is that dangerous to me. And I also don\'t really feel like saving her if it means revealing my strength. I have no reason to help her and I am pretty pissed that she put me in this situation.

The more he thought about it, the more it sounded like a good idea. He was already feeling much happier with the prospect of it. He would find the exit and kick the shit out of any monsters who got in his way. That seemed like a good plan to him.

Not to mention she had already given up it seemed, so it shouldn\'t matter to her. With his mind made up and with a much more satisfied mindset he got up to leave.

He didn\'t say a word and began to walk back to the monsters he sensed a ways back. However, just as Julius took the first several steps, she called out to him.

"Wait, where are you going?"

He didn\'t even bother to look back. He didn\'t want to see her beg, that would make abandoning her more difficult. Still, he didn\'t know her. He had no obligation to help her nor to reveal his secrets to her by doing so.

"Please, don\'t leave me here all alone," he heard as he was walking away, but ignored her pleas.

"Julius, please!"

It was at that moment he paused. She knew his name and not only that, but her voice had changed too. Furthermore, it was a voice that he was familiar with. He turned around to look at her and was surprised at what he saw. It was Grace standing there with tears running down her face. When she saw him turn around she slowly transformed back into Reinera and then back to Grace.

What the hell?

His brain short-circuited and everything started to come together. He always knew that it was a possibility, but he never actually believed it. Everything from her physical form to her aura, to her mannerisms were different.

Actually… he recalled that she had just been anxiously picking at her fingers a few minutes ago, something that he noticed Grace doing on many occasions. She also hadn\'t shied from physical contact with him.

But it all made sense in a way. Her constant secrecy, hiding her classes and affinity from him. It kind of all fitted together, and now he didn\'t see how he didn\'t realize it sooner.

He could be so stupid sometimes. He had been so confident in his perception skill that he ignored some pretty blatant signs.

That was the reason why she grabbed his hand. She was scared and her friend was right next to her. He didn\'t find fault in her wanting some comfort when she thought she was going to die.

Julius couldn\'t find the heart in himself to blame her for that. Knowing that Grace was Reinera changed everything.

He chuckled softly and looked up to the ceiling. It wasn\'t like he could abandon her now. That wouldn\'t be right. He was still of course frustrated at being dragged into this but he didn\'t blame her for not telling him. They all had their own secrets after all.

"I wish I could say I never thought it was a possibility, but honestly I just thought I was paranoid. How did I not see it?" He asked her.

Grace, or rather Reinera shook her head. "It\'s not your fault."

She reached down and pulled out a necklace from her uniform, another thing that Julius had never sensed before. She fiddled with it and suddenly she was back looking like the princess. To his spatial senses, her entire form changed physically, it wasn\'t like an illusion.

"This is an item made by my uncle. It creates a tangible and material disguise that alters my aura. It also has some subtle mind effects that make any person who has suspicions of my identity doubt themselves. It is relatively simple in its function, but very potent," she explained slightly nervously.

He gave the necklace in question a very interested gaze. The plain looking necklace was an absolutely amazing work of inscriptions. He couldn\'t even begin to start tracing the delicate and complex lines of mana running through it.

He bet even a stubborn person like Dante would be impressed.

Yeah, very simple in its function, he thought to himself sarcastically.

"Wow, that is one amazing necklace," Julius commented while slowly walking toward the necklace, all previous signs of anger and frustration nowhere to be seen. He was too absorbed in looking at the item with sparkling eyes.

He wondered how it worked. He couldn\'t imagine that an item like that was easy to find normally. He would bet that Kyle would love to get his hands on something like that.

While he admired it, he completely ignored the way that Reinera just looked at him like he had grown a third head.