Ryn
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Chapter 292
🕑 Added 2025-02-26 19:00:11 +0000 UTCJulius stepped back and ducked under Aubrey’s swinging fist with a small grin.
The other girl had gotten much faster during his time away. She must have picked up a new skill or evolved one of her prior ones because now she was displaying speed that she definitely didn’t have before.
Aubrey had never been the fastest of people and although she had a pretty powerful defensive skill, the fact that it was harder to hit her was a signifiant improvement for her. It also posed a very annoying problem for her opponents as well because she still had her mirage skill which already made it hard enough as is.
Luckily for him, he was still able to detect which clone was the real one. However, it was a much more difficult thing to do as each clone had more substance than before. It was almost easier to just use his aura senses to determine the real Aubrey and the fake ones.
He had been training with her as she got acclimated to her new speed. She wanted him to help her instead of a person like Edgar or Derek, for the simple fact that Julius had always been able to perceive where she was easily.
This meant that she had to use her newfound speed much more efficiently than she otherwise would when fighting Edgar or Derek.
He wasn’t using his full speed either. Shockingly, it wasn’t even his idea, it had been Aubrey’s.
She had asked him to dial back his speed when she first started sparring with him. Something he was certain pained her to ask, but he got where she was coming from.
She wanted to gauge her progress against someone relatively equal in speed and once she showed some improvements, she would ask him to go a little bit faster.
With that being said, it wasn’t easy to dodge all of her strikes. Because although her clones weren’t the real her, the attacks were much more threatening now that they had some substance behind them.
What had once been her best skill at avoiding attacks, was now one of her strongest attacking skills. It was kind of hard when almost a dozen Aubrey’s were trying to punch you in the face.
“Oh yeah, by the way, we already signed you up for the Tier 3 tournament coming up,” Aubrey dropped a bombshell in the middle of their sparring, making him lose his concentration and get hit by one of the clones at his back.
He blasted a short burst of kinetic energy at the clone to destroy it and looked and the others with a confused frown.
“What do you mean you already signed me up?”
“Well, after talking with Professor Kellar we were able to figure out how you would be able to participate in the prelims in a couple of days,” Edgar said proudly from where he was working on his aura training with Lily.
“That wasn’t what I was asking about and you know it.”
“Do you really think we were just going to allow you to just not participate?” Aubrey asked, taking a step back, signaling the end of their spar.
“Yeah, that was what I was hoping for,” he said with a firm nod of his head.
“Well, then we would be bad friends. There is no way you shouldn’t at least try. I mean you have already decided to stop pretending to be inconspicuous. Most of the students in the school already know about your existence if that’s what you are worried about,” she pointed out to him.
“But it sounds like a huge pain,” he complained.
“That’s a poor reason to give up free rewards.”
“It would probably take me winning the entire thing to make it worth it. Plus, I already have rewards House Easten is supposed to give me.”
“What? You don’t think you can?” Edgar asked with a knowing look on his face.
“What do you mean?”
“Lily told us some of the things that happened to you when you were gone,” Aubrey said with an exasperated sigh.
Julius couldn’t help but wince. Marcus apparently had told Lily a tiny amount of details about how he and Stella found Julius a few days ago, though it was unavoidable since he was still a retainer of her House.
While Marcus hadn’t told Lily everything that happened, he might have mentioned that he found Julius getting beat up by a Tier 5 upon their arrival. It wasn’t like he could avoid it either because House Violet was supposed to help interrogate the Tier 5 and it would have to come out eventually how he was captured.
This predictably didn’t go over very well with Lily and she had been giving him the silent treatment for the past few days. She hadn’t even tried to scold him like usual. Normally, she would be yelling at him for being dumb and irresponsible. But instead, she simply gave him a disappointed look every now and then.
And now she must have told them something.
He looked over to where she was doing her own thing, still ignoring him.
Like it had been for the past few days, she wasn’t even looking toward his direction even though she was totally listening to their conversation.
The only silver lining to it was that Marcus didn’t tell her everything. The man had the mercy to not tell her that Julius had been voluntarily blowing his limbs off while fighting the Tier 5.
If she knew that, he expected she would be giving him much more than the silent treatment.
“And why does that change your mind about me participating in the tournament?” He asked.
“We didn’t change our mind,” Aubrey pointed out. “We always thought you should have signed up for it, even if you didn’t do that well, it would serve as a good experience for you. But apparently, Marcus told her that you were very strong, which is a huge compliment coming from that man.”
“That doesn’t mean I can win the entire thing,” he argued.
Aubrey was about to respond, but for the first time in a few days, Lily spoke to him.
“How strong are you exactly?” She asked, looking at him with a weird look in her eyes.
He chewed on the inside of his cheek as he thought about how he wanted to answer.
“I don’t really know. But I can say that I am stronger than I was when I left, that’s for certain,” he said in all sincerity.
“And do you think you can win the entire thing?” She asked, looking directly into his eyes.
He shied away from her intense gaze. “Yeah, I have a pretty good shot at winning the entire thing,” he admitted.
“Then there’s no debating or arguing about it. You are going to participate in the prelims in a couple of days,” Lily said with finality.
At some point, he knew when to admit defeat. There was no way he was going to be able to get out of this. She was very serious about him participating.
But that brought up a new problem. What he hadn’t told them was that he didn’t just have a good shot at winning, but he was very confident that he would. He also hadn’t told them the real reason he was against signing up in the first place.
From his perspective, Aubrey, Derek, and Edgar were all in their fourth years, this meant that this was the last chance they had to try and win the tournament. He felt that if he were to participate, that he would be taking away their own chances of glory.
He wanted to see all of them succeed, and if he were to join, he would simply be another competitor.
He understood that he was being very arrogant, declaring that they wouldn’t have a chance against him, but that was just how he was feeling this past week when they asked him to participate. He didn’t feel like he needed to win any rewards and seeing one of them win would give him greater pleasure. But he also realized that they would smack him in the face in they knew he was treating them like one would a child.
And at that moment he realized that not participating for that reason would be wrong.
“Okay, I will do it,” he said with a defeated shake of his head.
Aubrey clapped her hands together happily. “Wonderful! See how easy that was? But now that is settled, let’s get you ready too. I feel like we have been the only ones training. I haven’t seen you actually train this entire week and that’s not like you at all.”
“Agreed, I want to see how much stronger you have gotten,” Edgar said with an excited smile. “None of this half-hearted stuff you have been doing since you returned. I want to see you really fight.”
Julius chuckled at the two of them.
“Well, if you insist.”
***
Edgar POV
Edgar wasn’t lying when he said he wanted to see just how much Julius had improved.
He already had some inclinations about just how much stronger Julius was now. When Julius had been a Tier 2, he had been able to keep up with him very well. He had even been able to beat Aubrey pretty consistently too.
So now that Julius was at the same tier as them, Edgar was genuinely curious to see how much he had changed.
He had been making his own improvements during this time Julius was away. He had finally gotten his third Concept and got himself an Emblem, something he had learned was essential for advancing to Tier 4.
He had made some progress in cultivating his Emblem, but it was slow work. It might take a lot of rift-delving to hasten the process. Professor Keller had already told him that fighting monsters and going through real-life battles would make his advancement much easier and seamless in establishing one’s Authority.
However, he also knew that Julius already had at least two Concepts and possibly even three before he even was at Tier 3. Thus, he wouldn’t be shocked to learn that Julius already had an Emblem of his own, making him close to the same stage as Edgar if you disregarded skill levels.
He had also sensed that new enhancement skill. Whatever, it was, it was quite the scary skill, he didn’t know how it quite worked, but there was no doubt that it was a combination of at least two other enhancement skills.
“Are you ready?” He asked Julius as he readied his fists.
The other boy nodded firmly and looked serenely calm just like usual. His focus skill always allowed him to keep a measured composure. One of the many skills Edgar was envious of.
Without any preamble, Edgar activated their simulated combat devices and dashed toward Julius, activating all of his skills.
He appeared right in front of him and threw a powerful punch at his chest.
A barrier of dense fire mana appeared in front of Julius, but Edgar made sure to use [Forceful Disruption] to weaken the construct. With that being said, he found it quite difficult to break through. By the time he did, the strike was severely weakened and Julius had easily avoided it.
But he also noticed how swift the other boy was. Much faster than he had been before and might have been faster than himself.
Rolling his shoulders he stared at Julius for a brief moment before blitzing back in. He didn’t let Julius any time to prepare any constructs, and when he did, he made sure to use his skills to either destroy or weaken them.
However, unlike when he was Tier 2, Julius was able to keep up with his speed and strength much more easily. It was actually Edgar who was finding himself on the back foot when it came to sheer physical abilities, something he didn’t experience very often.
He scoffed to himself. When Julius had told him that he had gained a pretty decent enhancement skill, he didn’t think it would be this much better than Edgar’s own.
While he was technically still more skilled in hand to hand combat, Julius must have been practicing, because the openings he used to exploit were no longer there.
He realized that Julius was baiting him into trying to use them.
He took a sharp leg kick in the hip and was blown backward. The force of the impact was quite brutal and was backed by some kind of Force Concept. He knew this because he had a Force Concept of his own and felt it resonate with it.
After he rolled back to his feet, he decided to take a risk. As Julius dashed forward and started to pile on the pressure, he stopped disrupting the mana constructs.
Instantly realizing that Edgar was no longer restricting his constructs, Julius created a swarm of spikes all around them and sent them shooting at him.
Predicting all of this, Edgar decided to use a huge chunk of his mana on his legs and he threw himself at Julius. A few of the spikes managed to hit him, but the ones that were tracking toward his back were still coming.
And so just before he got within hand reach, he disrupted the constructs. However, his real plan wasn’t to actually disrupt them, it was merely to distract Julius and hope that the boy would use to much of his attention toward keeping the constructs together.
Julius always had the bad habit of fighting for everything no matter if it was necessary or not.
He grinned as he was right and Julius kept a tight grip over these constructs. Unlike the ones which had been disrupted before they were fully formed, these ones were much harder to destroy.
But when Julius’s focus shifted slightly, he implemented the next step of his plan.
He understood better than almost anyone how ridiculous Julius’s perception was. There was no truly surprising the boy in a fight. The only way he found he was able to, was to not let the boy react in time.
So once he got close enough, he activated his epic skill, [Volcanic Disaster] and the entire room was lit up as magma exploded from Edgar’s body.
It was a skill he had developed in case he was surrounded and about to be overwhelmed. He didn’t have the mana control like Julius or Derek, but he could still just let it all out.
He smiled when he saw that Julius was still able to react in time. The boy completely discarded his spikes and created several layers of mana around him, protecting him from the blast.
But their hasty construction left them weakened and they didn’t hold up all the way, shattering upon contact, and Edgar’s fist was already soaring toward his face through the opening.
However, just when he thought he was going to connect, he felt a wave of an absolutely terrifying aura wrap around him and there was nothing he could do as it overwhelmed him. He tried everything he could.
He desperately threw all of his aura at it but it was to no avail as the aura seeped through and started to eat away at his physical enhancement skill. It was like trying to hold back a tidal wave and aura had never been his strongest suit.
He couldn’t help but grimace as his enhancement skill flickered out and he found himself completely immobilized by Julius’s kinetic energy.
And there was nothing he could do as Julius walked up to him and gave him an apologetic shrug.
What the hell had that just been? Edgar thought to himself in shock.
“Was that the new aura skill you mentioned?” Lily asked with similar wide eyes from the other side of the isolation barrier.
“Yeah, it can be a bit brutal at first,” Julius admitted.
He heard Aubrey scoff. “You think?”
Julius turned around and started to argue with her while jabbing his finger in her direction.
As the two of them started to bicker with one another, Edgar laid down and put his head back, still not quite believing what had just happened. He had already expected to lose, but he thought it would have been closer.
In the end there was nothing he could do, but there was one thing for certain, he needed to work on his aura skills.
Comments
BookDragonling
Once again allowing himself to be pushed around by his overly nosy friends. It's weird that they were able to sign him up at all. Lemme just go sign up my grandma since apparently anyone can sign up anyone else without need for verification or consent.
Lance Wheeler
Fun fight. Thanks
Hassan Sarwat
Thanks for the chapter
Profile Name
Excellent opportunity for some quality world building
gray matter
I’ve thought about this. I think he should. Even if it’s just in the big tournament. The less you show the less your opponents can prepare for. Never know what other monsters are out there.
gray matter
I don’t care too much if you do it twice so I don’t neeeed one before the intra-school tournament but before the big inter-school tournament I think a chapter where he learns/studies about the biggest known threats from the other schools would be really cool and also for opening up more reader knowledge on other abilities and affinities and bloodline capabilities in this world.
gray matter
lol I’m somewhere in the middle here on these arguments. I see both points. Everyone did want him to do it for different reasons I think his internal reasoning should’ve been a little stronger or really even just “well I kind of wanted to do it anyways it should be fun.” Which to be fair is probably the underlying reason, he was a 27 YO male I believe when he died and has basically been a solitary training machine for 8 years with a few recent months of friendship. Add that to teenage hormone and ego. It’d be really hard to not want to show off. All that being said I don’t think he should do it because i personally would still do everything to remain discreet until i was sure i could at least get away from and/or fight tier 6’s. He’s not as discovered as he seems to believe as i pointed out above.
Arson Void
He’s also already been proven wrong with the rewards not being worth it a few chapters ago it was mentioned one of the rewards was an item that massively helps to form your authority which would be worth it for Julius to get.
gray matter
Yeah I believe he does have a more legitimate reason in that it would’ve been hard for the conclave to find this tier 3 child that could fight and beat tier 4’s. It seems he currently assumes they will know it was him, which isn’t the case. One they would have to believe the survivors in the first place then they will have to spend tremendous personal spy resources to find and force someone that knows anything more than some kid named Julius. That’s not the case when he wins the whole tournament… or comes in second. He does currently have a decent soft counter (while wearing the bracelets anyways) with a fast long range mage. There might be some monster in the upperclassmen of the whole empire with just those two strong points. Some sort of wind lightning affinity combo maybe or something like that.
Dajiinn
There is a difference between cutting everyone out for some reason and not doing something because there’s little value in it. Him participating has little value. Might be one or two fights that he needs to be serious for, besides that? It’s a wrap. And you’re saying that not letting your friends force you into something you don’t want to do makes you lonely and in your own head? There’s a misunderstanding here because I don’t get what you’re saying.
Hamfist
"He's already said there's not much this academy can teach him and the rewards for the tournament aren't that much in his opinion. " Yes he's said those things but what makes you so certain that those things are true? It has repeatedly been made clear that Julius knows very little about this world. It has also repeatedly been shown that he has rather poor judgement. What you dismiss as him being a pushover is in fact him deferring to people who want the best for him, who know far more than him about this world, and who have demonstrated a level of wisdom that he lacks. People often comment about Julius showing a lack of maturity for somebody with a past life, but this is a perfect example of Julius being mature. Rather than being childish and stomping his feet while whining "but I don't want to!" he is accepting help from his friends.
Jayden Shannon
That’s what friends are for fr
Thomas Grimshaw
It's a very lonely road to walk down, not letting anyone try to help you get out of your own head.
Justin Drake
TYFTC
Derek Walker
He’s not going to do this. But he should just flex in this tournament. Dont even move and just cripple everyone with his aura alone.
Conrad Manaugh
Friendship is better then any reward
Steven Thompsen
I disagree with your disagreement. Him participating at such a young age and as a tier 3 in winning the tournament which had so much light on him there will be plenty of questions about family where he came from etc. he has enemies that are as some other people said here four tears above him and yeah he has friends with powerful backing but that doesn't mean their families will go to war with a dukedom, and a powerful clan of assassins. Also I think he'd grow stronger traveling and doing rifts. He's already said there's not much this academy can teach him and the rewards for the tournament aren't that much in his opinion. Also that negates the fact that that wasn't even my point My point was his character is such a pushover when it comes to anyone who's slightly close to him that he cannot stand up for himself or disagree with them even for the most part yeah he'll be like oh no I don't want to do that but then you'll just let them push him into it anyway it's happened throughout the entire story and don't get me wrong I love the story but it is a character flaw that is not being addressed with character growth
Azulmar
Their family's owe Julius big time. Comparing to Julius will drive them to push past limits they didn't even know they had.
Kyfe
I disagree. I think it's more like they took matters into their own hands to show him how ridiculous he was being, but if he had an actual legitimate reason he could articulate, they would back off. He didn't, lol. In my opinion, it's more of a way to get Julius to participate in the tournament while having him remain consistent with his character.
Kyfe
Or better yet, incapable of doing so (with the installed barriers, at least).
Kyfe
Nah, I agree with them, and the method they chose was the only way to get through to him. His reasoning was not sound, and he absolutely can use the rewards. I don't think he understands how useful the rewards are going to be for him, and they're going to be the kind that his friends could probably get, but not him, not even with their connection. To get back to the main point, if he had been able to articulate a more legitimate reason for not wanting to participate other than, "it's a pain" or "I don't want to take your glory," then they would back off. Now, that's just my opinion. I'm not saying you're wrong to have yours, but I just see it from a different perspective.
Oskar
Thanks for the chapter 😁
TJ O'Hare
This world only respects Power (with a capital P). His friends push him so that he will be respected (as they love and respect him) because otherwise, someone will eventually put him down. He has no house to protect him, and there are 4 more tiers above him and bullying is a way of life folks. Grow strong and be recognized as strong, or be prey. It's that simple.
Zack
Nah, these are good friends. If left to his own devices, he'd end up back where he was at the beginning of school- a training maniac who doesn't see other people unless he absolutely has to. This is them making him participate in things outside of his own head and grounding him back to the outside world. The tournament is really just the easiest thing for them to convince him to do. If he really didn't want to, they wouldn't make him, but that would make him do *something*.
Zach
TFTC! Really excited to see them go all out as friends and not get super upset about wins/losses. Edgar with the immediate “alright aura skill training arc” is a great mindset to see rather than just depressed at losing to something new. I love this crew, they’re the best
Zenty
God, I hate his so called 'friends'. They never respect him and his choices and always forces their will on him. And he keeps taking it like a pushover.
Orthneil Kelley Jr.
TFTC!
Amanda
Thanks for the chapter! Can’t wait for the tournament!
Dajiinn
Why does he constantly let people stick their nose in his business? It doesn’t matter if they’re his friends or not.
Alexikon
I am with you. I think it is an annoyingly convenient setup for it to expose Julius' Family connections and be targeted by the Dukedom through getting attention in said tournament.
brennon Petersen
Tftc!
Dajiinn
You’re not alone, very annoying
Oliver Reilly
So tournament arc incoming
Profile Name
Tyftc gonna be a blast with the tournament. Hope the organizers fail to put upp barriers strong enough to contain his aura and scares the whole crowd shitless
Raymond Mouton
Thanks for the chapter. This is what I had been hoping for ! Good POV shift. Loved it.
Steven Thompsen
Out of curiosity am I the only one that hates the way his friends force him to do what they want etc when it becomes anything to do with his friends or anyone he knows he has literally no backbone and just lets everyone control everything for him it's kind of annoying after a while.
Michelle Anne Manders
Thank you for the chapter
Quentin Cozzi
Thanks for the chapter!
