[System]
You are a skilled LitRPG progression fantasy author. Write chapters based on the story bible and instructions provided.

## Premise
Path to Ascendence — a LitRPG progression fantasy. After Julian lost his parents and sister several years ago, he didn’t know what to do. As just a young child, he wasn’t emotionally prepared to deal with everything that came after. Their deaths hadn’t even been a possibility in his mind. Death was an obscure thing to young Julian. They were killed in a car accident.

## Main Character
Name: Julius | Gender: male (he/him)
Key supporting characters: Edwin, Lukas, Tier

## World & Power System
level-based progression; skills (e.g. Restoration lvl 3 -> lvl 6, Focus lvl 9 ->Focus lvl 10, Restoration lvl 6 -> lvl 7, Firebolt lvl 5 -> lvl 9, Firebolt lvl 2 -> lvl 3, Thermal Compression lvl 4 -> lvl 7, Mana Consolidation, Restoration lvl 14 -> lvl 15)
System notification style: "Alert! Rift is reaching the overflow stage. You will not be able "

## Writing Style
third-person limited narration, past tense. Dialogue-heavy (34% dialogue). Fast-paced, short punchy sentences.

[User]
Write Chapter 128: Cake Solicitation
Target length: ~2500 words
Key events: new skill acquired

[Assistant]
Julius reread the message a couple of times before he stopped. He just had to make sure that he was reading it correctly. Apparently, he now had eleven skill slots instead of the normal ten, which he was very excited about.

He had always suspected that there were ways to increase one’s skill slots. He remembered that he had asked Edwin a while ago, and of course, in typical Edwin fashion, he hadn’t answered Julius’s question.

Julius distinctly recalled that the only answer Julius got was a smack across the back of the head and a stern reminder to not be focused on things that didn’t matter.

However, It made sense considering that skills were an integral piece of one’s soul. Still, he hadn’t been expecting to get another one until Tier 3 at least. After all, Tier 3 was the stage when soul strength became more important. But it was also the stage when one’s body and soul started to merge.

Julius pulled up his status to see if anything would be reflected in these changes.

Name: Julius Von Hyperius

Tier: 2

Skills:

[Armaments of the Arcane lvl 1] (Epic)

[Pseudo-Phoenix Renewal lvl 15] (Rare+)

[Empowerment of Will lvl 14] (Rare+)

[Barrier of Severance lvl 9] (Rare+)

[Spatial Perception lvl 19] (Rare)

[Savage Dance lvl 19] (Rare)

[Kinetic Augmentation lvl 16] (Rare)

Current Skill Slots: 7/11

Concepts:

[Concept of Sharpness]

[Severing Will]

The first thing he noticed was his new epic skill right on top of his skill list. He was going to be honest, seeing it up there gave him more satisfaction than he had been expecting.

The next thing he noticed was that there were some additions to his status. It now had how many skill slots he had in total as well as the amount that he was currently using. At the moment it showed that he was using seven out of eleven slots. That meant he had four more to fill in with whatever skills he wanted.

Even without the additional skill slot, being able to combine three separate skills into one singular one had been a huge help. With the extra room and the two extra skill slots to play with, Julius felt less bad about taking another skill.

He could now get that [Quick Step] skill that he had been looking at for a while. Gabriel had been waiting to teach him until he was ready. However, now that Julius had more space for skills, he felt prepared.

The final thing that stuck out was the section that showed Julius his Concepts he currently had. At the moment, it only displayed his Concept of Sharpness: Severing Will. He would imagine that in the future it would show the rest of his Concepts. Also, if he were to get another Concept of Sharpness, it seemed logical that it would show up underneath Severing Will.

However, that begged the question of the possibility and possible repercussions of learning a second Concept of Sharpness.

He was very intrigued about what it would mean for his current Concept. Perhaps, it might even combine with Severing Will if there were property synergy between them. He would try to remember to ask Declan or someone else about it. It would be good to know.

After a big stretch of his arms, he got back to what he was doing before he was interrupted. His partly eaten cake was still in his lap as he lay down in his chair.

However, now that he was done with the skill upgrade and the spontaneous reward selection, he didn’t feel like staying in the training room for much longer. He was thinking that some fresh air would be a nice change of pace.

As he left the training facilities, he immediately noticed how nice of a night it was. The moon was illuminating the campus just enough to see the general silhouettes of the buildings and trees. The air was crisp and refreshing. Maybe it would have been cold to someone who was untiered, but to Julius, it was the perfect temperature.

Julius walked around campus, looking for a spot where he could enjoy his cake. He came across a good number of students much to his surprise. It was pretty late, but it must not have been late enough for everyone to be in bed. There was also the fact that tomorrow was the weekend, so students didn’t need to get up early in the morning. It was one of the few days they got a chance to sleep in.

Julius thought about heading down to the beach, but he stopped himself. For one, if there were enough people around campus, he was sure that there was a party or get-together of some sort down at the beach like usual.

Secondly, he didn’t enjoy the thought of eating his cake while around the sand. Nothing would ruin such a delicacy faster than it becoming a gritty mess.

Therefore, he headed off in search of an empty garden or area where he could enjoy his cake in peace. He finally found a spot toward the edge of campus, it was much quieter than the rest of the grounds. He could only sense a couple of people around him. Though, they were far enough away that he didn’t worry about it.

He got himself nice and situated, creating another chair using his new skill, [Armaments of the Arcane]. This time he also included a table for him to eat off of as well. It was completely unnecessary but it was a perfect opportunity to try out his new skill.

The one thing that he really noticed, was how much of his Concept was present in the skill’s constructs without him really needing to do anything. It didn’t make the chair or table sharp, but they were infused with his Severing Will Concept.

Once he got settled in, he brought out his cake and glass of milk. However, he felt something tug on his core and Drasil came out on his own as well. The little life spirit appeared to want to enjoy the night with Julius as well.

Unfortunately, the cute little green spirit had no interest in delicious desserts. Hence, Julius had to create a little ball of dense life mana for the spirit to enjoy alongside him. He even created a little plate for the spirit to eat on, just like Julius was.

Drasil seemed to really enjoy the thought and happily whistled at Julius while leaping at the ball of life mana, eagerly absorbing it. Julius smiled at the little guy and went back to shoveling his own cake into his mouth.

He was on his third piece of cake when he felt two individuals approach his general direction. He could tell that they were both female based on their general shapes. One was practicing with her mana while walking the other was following her from behind.

Once he checked them out, he ignored them and went back to devouring his cake. He looked over at Drasil who was almost done with his little ball and created another one, placing in on the plate in front of him.

Drasil looked up at Julius and gave a whistle of appreciation, before continuing to enjoy the life mana.

He felt the girls get pretty close to him, heading almost directly to where he was sitting.

Please don’t come over, please don’t come over, Julius prayed silently.

“Is that cake?” he heard from behind his back. She sounded incredulous as if the idea of someone eating cake was absurd. Or maybe it was more of the fact that he was eating cake with a small green spirit in the dark that surprised her.

He turned around to see who had disturbed his night. It was hard to see her exact features, but she had black hair and was cute even in this low lighting. She wasn’t stunning like he had seen many of the girls in his year, but she had a nice face and a warm smile. He turned to look at the other girl he had sensed walking with her, but to his surprise, he didn’t see anything.

He blinked a few times before taking another look, but it was the same. There was nobody there.

Correction. There was someone there, he just couldn’t see them with his eyes. However, [Spatial Perception] was quite confident that she was there. It was possible that she using magic to make herself invisible or something.

It wasn’t his problem either way. As long as she wasn’t doing it for malicious purposes, he would overlook it and pretend that he didn’t know she was there. Who knew, maybe the girl was doing training of her own right now. Who was Julius to judge other people’s training methods? He had to remind himself that he had worn a blindfold for several years as a child for that very same reason.

Julius looked back at the girl who had asked him the question. “Sorry, what was that?”

“I asked if that was a cake you were eating,” she said with an amused glint in her eyes.

Julius nodded his head proudly. “Yep. Chocolate espresso cake from a little shop I found in town.”

She tilted her head and gave him a curious look in return. “Why are you eating cake all the way out here alone?”

“I’m not alone,” he pointed out. He had seen her already take notice of Drasil, it was too late to hide him and he didn’t feel like it was worth the trouble. Most people surprisingly didn’t pay that much attention to other’s familiars, they were more common than Julius expected.

Plus, Drasil was having a grand old time and he didn’t want to ruin his fun. In fact, Drasil hadn’t even noticed the girls' approach and was still enjoying his meal with joyful ignorance.

She took another glance at the gluttonous life spirit with a small laugh. “Apologies, not alone. But my question still stands.”

He shrugged his shoulders. “Why not? Everyone loves cake. Plus, it’s a beautiful night out and it is quite peaceful don’t you think?”

The girl gave a rueful grin and a conceding nod. “Very true.”

Julius observed the girl intently looking at the half-eaten piece that was on his plate. He had an inclining that she had come over more than just to say hello. In fact, based on how she was staring at his cake so attentively he had a good guess why.

“Do you want a piece?” Julius offered her in a regretful tone as if he was wishing that she would decline.

Julius saw her give the brightest smile yet and furiously nodded her head in confirmation.

He gave her a small knowing grin and she had the grace to look slightly embarrassed at how obvious and shameless her staring had been. He took out the rest of the cake and gave her a nice generous slice along with a plate of her own and a glass of milk.

She took it with a happy grin, “Thanks, I love cake.”

“I couldn’t tell,” he said with a grin of his own.

She sat down beside him on the ground as she took her first bite. Julius knew that he should be offering his chair to her like a good gentleman would. However, he rationalized to himself that he had already given away a precious piece of his cake.

Not to mention he had been out here to avoid people. So it made him feel less bad about not giving up his seat.

While he could have created another chair, he didn’t want to show his new epic-ranked skill to them in action. He would rather they believed it was some sort of enchanted item he had.

However, it seemed that the invisible girl who was with her didn’t feel the same way. Julius could literally feel the girl staring daggers into his forehead. He didn’t need eyes to feel her judgemental gaze.

He got distracted when he heard a soft moan of appreciation from the girl who savored her first bite.

“This is a very good cake,” she commented.

“Right? Not bad at all,” Julius agreed enthusiastically.

Unlike her friend, the girl didn’t seem to mind that Julius wasn’t giving up his seat. If anything, she was too distracted with her own dessert to care that much.

They didn’t talk at all, both of them were content with the silence and their cake. Once she polished off the cake in record time, she took a nice long sip of the milk, before getting to her feet and sweeping the crumbs from her uniform.

“That was fast,” he commented while also a little bit impressed.

He could see her turn her head down and blush in embarrassment in the low light again. “Sorry about that. I interrupted you, took your cake, then gorged myself on it in front of you like some uncultured barbarian.”

“No, no. Don’t be embarrassed, I was more in awe about how fast you ate it.”

She still had her head down. “Well, it’s not my fault that is was it so delicious,” she said bitterly.

“...Thank you for sharing with me. I know you didn’t have to,” she thanked him after a momentary pause.

“Are you kidding me? The way you were looking at it, I had a feeling that if I didn’t you would have beaten me up and taken it from me by force.”

She looked back up at him with an affronted expression. “I would not!” She refuted fervently.

“I would most likely just have asked you repeatedly until you said yes,” she confessed after a brief second of silence.

Julius noticed the invisible girl next to her tap her shoulder once. Then, without looking at the invisible girl, the cake girl bowed at Julius. “I have to get going, but I appreciate you sharing your cake with me. If I ever come across a cake in need of sharing, I will try to return the favor,” she joked.

“Only if it's a good one. If it tastes like dirt, you have my permission to forget about me,” Julius said. He was dead serious too. He loved cake, but that didn’t mean he wanted a shit cake.

“Okay, only the best cake, I promise,” she said with a hint of amusement before turning around and leaving in the other direction without another word.

Julius still felt the other invisible girl's gaze intensely staring at him even as she left alongside her friend.

What a weird pair of girls, Julius mused to himself. They just came in and ate my cake. Not to mention that I didn’t even get any of their names.

Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed it.

[User]
Write Chapter 129: Such Insolence!
Target length: ~2000 words

[Assistant]
Amelia POV

The insolence of that boy! She angrily thought to herself.

Amelia had wanted nothing else than to absolutely brutalize that disrespectful brat. How dare he treat Reinera in that manner.

The only thing that had prevented her from smashing his face into a pulp was that she was supposed to be hidden and Princess Reinera wouldn’t appreciate her coming out of hiding to beat on the boy.

Amelia had been by Princess Reinera’s side for most of her life and had dutifully protected her from many dangers along the way. The past few years have been exceptionally difficult, there have been no less than a dozen attempts on her life.

Thankfully, the Houses and groups that have been after the princess have only sent people under Tier 5 so far. Granted, most Tier 5 and 6 individuals didn’t care about Princess Reinera, they had more important things to care about. Still, that left a lot of greedy individuals looking to take advantage of Princess Reinera for their own ambitions.

Though, Amelia was very wary of the boy for some reason. His aura was only Tier 2 and he had some sort of item that shrouded his aura, which often denoted a lack of practice and control. So he shouldn’t be a threat, especially considering she was a Tier 4 herself. All it would take was a single poke and she could pop him like a mosquito.

So why did she have such a reaction when she looked at him?

A main thing that caused her suspicion was the fact that he had looked directly at her, even though she had been using [Mist of the Ethereal] to shroud her presence. A skill that other Tier 4s who had an epic-ranked perception skill would find challenging to see through.

It was only just a second, and could easily be ignored as a coincidence. However, she knew what she saw. Was it a coincidence? Or perhaps was it something that she should be wary of? He hadn’t acted like she was there, but there was always the chance that he had, but had chosen to ignore her instead.

Another thing that sparked her caution was the conjured furniture that was around the boy. They were made entirely of mana, very high quality, and dense mana at that. Not only that but there was something else infused within them. It was very difficult to sense even with her abilities, but it spoke of something beyond what a Tier 2 could create.

Amelia had seen some amazing and breathtaking items created by masterful craftsmen. Many of them had been contracted to build things for the royal family. And an item that was able to create furniture constructs of that quality was undoubtedly very expensive. Not to mention, the contacts needed to find such a crafter would be just as difficult.

That wasn’t in itself very surprising. After all, this was Goldencrest at the end of the day. Many influential Houses and Families sent their scions here to study and learn to fight. Amelia was aware that there were the young prodigies of the Abrams and Zenith households here as well.

No, what bothered her more than all of that, was his treatment of the Imperial Princess. They had disguised her in order to allow her to walk around freely and enjoy some peace and quiet Goldencrest had to offer. Still, it was appalling that anyone would let her sit on the dirt like some average commoner.

He didn’t even offer her a chair. A chair that she had no doubt was within his item’s capability. Even if he didn’t know Reinera was a princess, he should have the chivalry and offered it to any woman, regardless of status.

Yet, Princess Reinera didn’t take any offense. She had taken up the dirt without complaint. Amelia knew that the princess had a weakness for sweets and other food-related delicacies. So she wasn’t that surprised that she had been drawn into the cake. It did look pretty tasty if Amelia was being honest.

She would have to look into where the boy had found it so that she could get one for the princess to enjoy later. It definitely seemed like the princess had enjoyed it very much.

Amelia hadn’t been worried about the cake being poisoned either. For one, they had gone to him, not the other way around. Maybe if he had invited her over for cake, Amelia would have been more wary of a possible poisoning.

Also, Princess Reinera had many enchanted items on her person that specifically tested for poisons in her vicinity. It wasn’t a failsafe method, but it helped dramatically when it came to assuring her food was safe. Furthermore, she had many medicines that would have helped her once she showed signs of being affected by a substance.

“You should have tried it, Amelia.”

Amelia broke out of her thoughts and turned to Reinera. “That wouldn’t be possible, I am supposed to be invisible, princess.”

“It would have been worth it. Seriously, I can’t believe I forgot to ask him where he got it,” Reinera said frustrated at her failure.

Amelia removed her invisibility and appeared next to the princess. Unlike the princess’s disguise, she had golden blonde hair and a lithe figure. “He did mention that he had found it in town. Perhaps, I could send someone out to find it if you are interested.”

“No, that would defeat the challenge of finding it on my own,” she argued. “I was thinking we could go and search for it tomorrow if there’s time.”

“I don’t think that would be safe, princess,” Amelia respectfully pointed out.

“Argh, what’s the point of getting sent all the way out here to Heston if I am even more confined than I would have been in the Capital? I also have this disguise thanks to Uncle, so I should be pretty safe,” Reinera said.

“I don’t see why there’s a need to take a chance,” Amelia refuted.

“I agreed to come all the way out here because I thought I would finally have a chance to be a little more free. Not to just be further away from my family while still in chains,” Reinera stated.

“You came out here because it is safer for you,” Amelia corrected her. “Only the most desperate parties will come and try to kill you in a place like Heston. The others will be too worried about the possible consequences of breaking the long-standing peace here.”

“So you are telling me I still need to be locked up like a little bird in a cage?” The princess asked sarcastically.

“Don’t try and play that card. You have more privileges from your so-called ‘cage’ than ninety-nine percent of the people in the Empire,” Amelia chastised the princess. For a member of the royal family, Reinera was quite well-mannered and kind. However, she had the unfortunate problem of not having the proper perspective of her position and took some of her liberties for granted. She had no idea how bad some of the people had it. Or just how many people were oppressed by those who controlled their region.

“Also, this weekend is not the best time to go exploring. Apparently, several high-ranking dignitaries and other influential people are coming to Heston for negotiations. It will already be quite a stressful couple of days,” Amelia added.

Reinera grumbled unhappily and tried once more to convince Amelia. “Please? If there is so much attention on the other parties, then would our actions go unnoticed?”

Amelia paused at that. It was difficult to admit, but Reinera made a good point. With all of the noise, they could easily slip around Heston without anybody the wiser. It would most likely be the best time to explore the city.

Reinera must have seen the unwilling admittance on her face because she pressed forward. “We can even go disguised like we are now. I don’t mind having escorts and a few other guards around either. But can we please do it? I didn’t get to see the rest of the city because there was such a crowd of people before.”

Amelia watched as Reinera gave her best puppy eyes.

She sighed defeatedly. “Okay. But there will be strict conditions. And I expect you to follow them without question, understood?”

Princess Reinera squealed in joy and jumped up in down in excitement, hugging Amelia tightly. “Thank you, thank you!”

Amelia just shook her head. She had a very busy day she had to plan out before tomorrow. She would have to figure out the layout of the city, and which part they would be traveling to. She would have to schedule duties to the other retainers and guards. It would seem that she wouldn’t be getting much sleep tonight.

“Huh, I just realized it. But I never caught that boy’s name,” the princess said more to herself than anyone else.

Amelia got interrupted as she was already planning the next day’s events. “What was that?”

“Oh, nothing. I was just thinking that I never got that nice boy’s name.”

“You mean the boy who didn’t even lend you his chair to sit on and made you eat in the dirt?” Amelia said annoyed.

“We did interrupt him during his dessert. Not to mention that he did share with me and that it was an amazing cake. I can’t expect him to give up his only seat. Maybe if the cake ‘tasted like dirt’ I would have been more upset,” Reinera defended him.

“It doesn’t excuse his rudeness,” Amelia commented.

“I’m not going to hold it against him. Furthermore, he might have not been able to create another chair for me. It was already a pretty impressive work of mana construction, so I wouldn’t blame him if he couldn’t create another.”

Amelia swiftly turned her complete attention to her. “You think he created the chair and table himself?”

Princess Reinera shrugged her shoulders. “That’s what it felt like to me. You thought differently?”

Amelia nodded her head. “I thought it was an item.”

Reinera frowned. “I don’t think it was an item. I felt like he had more of a personal connection with it than something conjured with the help of an item. A connection that is more consistent from a skill in use. That was actually what made me go over in the first place. The cake was just a happy coincidence.”

Amelia went deep into thought. She knew very well that Princess Reinera had generational talent which included incredible mana senses ever since she was a babe. Amelia’s own talents didn’t revolve around mana manipulation and other mana constructs. She was good very good by normal standards, but nothing compared to Reinera.

Therefore, she trusted her opinion more than her own. If Reinera believed that the boy created the constructs through one of his own skills, Amelia was positioned to believe her.

“How did he manage to create something so dense and intricate on his own?” She asked the princess.

“I don’t know. The constructs had multiple complex arrangements. When I was eating I was eagerly trying to figure out how he did it. He somehow was able to condense a bunch of fire mana enough to give it complete physical form and then on top of it, add elements of softened mana to it. There was some other stuff that I couldn’t make out, but it was certainly impressive. Most likely it was the use of several very good mana skills, ” she said appreciatively.

That changed a lot of how Amelia viewed the boy now. She placed him higher on the list of people she would have to keep an eye on. She hadn’t heard of anyone with his description yet, so he couldn’t be a known scion from a powerful family, but he was someone with at least some level of skill if he impressed Reinera.

The princess wasn’t easily impressed by anything. Especially anything revolving around mana.

Thank you for reading, I really hope you enjoyed it!

[User]
Write Chapter 130: Ate His Family To Poverty
Target length: ~2200 words

[Assistant]
As a little gift to himself, Julius decided to get some proper sleep in his dorm like a normal student. No more mats or hard stone floors for him. He had moved up in the world and had finally decided to sleep on an actual bed that was soft and plush.

Funnily enough, he didn’t sense his roommate Henry when he arrived. Which was weird considering it was past midnight at this point and from what Julius had observed in these past several weeks, his roommate was always in bed when Julius decided to drop by.

He didn’t pay it that much mind. He focused on getting himself nice and clean before jumping into the fluffy bed. Within a few moments, he was passed out face first in his pillows.

When he awoke, he felt the familiar presence of Drasil lying across his head. His face was still pressed into the pillowcase, but the life spirit had decided that the back of the skull made for a comfortable place to rest.

It was becoming a bit of a habit for the spirit to come out of his core to join Julius in his naps or when he was sleeping in bed. It was actually a little bit endearing.

However, it was time to get up for the day. So he gently removed Drasil from his head and got out of bed. The adorable green spirit gave a precious little whistle of frustration at the loss of his personal mattress. Julius tucked the tiny spirit into the collar of his uniform, keeping him in place through the use of mana.

It was later than he normally slept, so he wasn’t surprised to see that the rest of the group had arrived at breakfast before him.

“Look who’s the last one here,” Aubrey said the moment she saw him trudge to their table.

Julius placed down his tray at his usual spot next to Lily and Edgar, ignoring her.

“You know you make a good point,” Derek said to Aubrey before turning to look at Julius. “I don’t think you have ever gotten here this late.”

“Yeah, did our resident golem sleep in or something?” Aubrey teased.

“I thought it was my celebration today? Shouldn’t you be treating me nicer?” He responded to her.

“That’s not until later. For now, you are fair game,” Aubrey reasoned.

“I’m not sure that’s how it works,” Julius argued with a frown.

Aubrey had a wide smile in comparison. “I wouldn’t know. I just made that up,” she said proudly.

Julius just groaned and ignored the girl by eating his breakfast.

“So what time are we thinking about leaving?” Kyle asked.

“I was thinking pretty soon after breakfast. We have all day, so we might as well use it,” Lily said to everyone.

“Do we even have specific plans? I know we are going to the Golden Wheel for dinner but other than that did we talk about doing anything else?” Edgar asked her.

Lily had a small grin on her face. “I do have something in mind before dinner, but anything before that is up to the group. We can just roam around checking out shops and stalls until then.”

“What’s before dinner?” Aubrey asked.

Lily wagged her finger at the other girl. “It’s a secret.”

“Screw secrets. What is it?” Aubrey demanded.

Lily shook her head firmly. “I’m not telling you.”

“Why not? Is it something we will hate? Like that time you took us to that awful play?” Aubrey asked with a scrunched-up nose as if remembering something very unpleasant.

“It was not that bad!” Lily defended.

“Yeah, no offense Lily, but that play was pretty bad,” Derek agreed with Aubrey.

“You guys just have no taste in the finer aspects of the theatrical arts,” Lily argued.

“If that was the finer aspects of theater then I shiver at what you would consider bad,” Aubrey said while fake trembling.

“Shut up,” Lily said morosely with her head down.

Edgar turned and gave Aubrey a stern look. “See what you did now? You have gone and upset her.”

Julius watched as Lily perk up a little bit as she heard Edgar defend her.

“How are we supposed to get her to tell us what we are doing? For all we know it is another terrible play we have to be subjected to for several hours. I almost tore off my face by the halfway point of that last one she brought us to,” Edgar said while grabbing his face with both hands as if vividly remembering the experience.

Julius watched Lily's face just as quickly go back to being depressed after she heard Edgar’s words.

Derek intervened before Lily dug herself a small hole to bury herself in. “Okay, enough teasing. I for one still want to know what we are doing. What did you have planned Lily?”

She looked up from she had shoved her head into her arms with an affronted look. “You think I am going to tell you now? I wish that I was taking you to another ‘awful’ play just so you guys can suffer through it.”

“Now that’s just mean,” Aubrey said under her breath.

“What was that?” Lily asked aggressively no longer sad but more angry. And angry Lily is not a Lily you want to mess with.

“Nothing,” Aubrey quickly stated. She also knew what that tone meant and knew better than to say anything else.

After a long pause where the rest of the group didn’t say anything and Julius could only hear the sounds of food being chewed, he looked at Lily from the side tentatively.

He gave her a soft poke on her shoulder. “You okay?” He asked gently.

She looked over at him the fierce look on her face mellowing out when she noticed it was him. “I’m fine. Sorry about that. As you can tell the others don’t like some of the things I have planned in the past.”

“I’d be happy with anything you had planned, even if it was one of the plays they were talking about. I’m not very picky when it comes to that stuff, I have seen some truly horrifying stuff,” he told her seriously.

“Kiss ass,” Aubrey muttered quietly.

Lily went from a smile to a cold stare as she turned to Aubrey. “You have something to say?” She asked irked.

Aubrey didn’t say anything and just put her head down, shoving more eggs into her stomach.

Julius wasn’t lying about that either. His old world had some amazing means of entertainment; movies, TV shows, and books, there was more than one could imagine. Compared to this world, where there wasn’t much in the form of entertainment, it was a stark difference.

However, just as there were masterpieces like the first seven seasons of Game of Thrones, there were just as many awful creations. Julius had the misfortune of watching a parody film of the Fast and Furious movie, called Superfast.

He needed bleach to scrub out his eyes and ears after that experience.

It was his grandfather’s fault in the first place. He was bad with technology and had accidentally rented it, thinking that it was the actual Fast and Furious movie. It was to both of their shock when the first few minutes of the catastrophic movie played.

Yet, for unknown reasons, they had decided to sit on the couch and watch the entire film. They spent an hour and a half of their lives, watching a movie about Vin Serento and his family. An hour and a half that they wasted.

At least that was what Julius had thought of it at the time. Now, looking back. It was one of the more precious ninety minutes of his life.

He had to stop himself before he could dwell on the past. He had long learned that it wasn’t healthy to think about things like that for too long.

After she put Aubrey in check, Lily turned back to look at Julius with a smile. “I didn’t plan for us to see a play today, but maybe next time we can if you want.”

Julius could see Aubrey and Edgar both flinch as they heard Lily’s proposition. Aubrey was even about to say something, but Kyle managed to grab her shoulder and keep her quiet before she could say something to trigger Lily again.

“Sure, that sounds like fun. Let’s do something like that on another weekend,” Julius offered. He could do with some entertainment, books only did so much for him. There was something else about being able to watch a performance live.

“Sure! I will see what events are going on and we can decide!” Lily said joyfully. She seemed very excited to have someone interested to see something with her.

“Perfect! Does that mean you will tell me what the secret thing we are doing later?” Julius asked with a hopeful smile.

“Of course not!” Lily said with a smug grin. “Nice try though.”

“It was worth a shot,” he grumbled.

* * *

They ended up leaving quite soon after breakfast. It wasn’t like they had anything else to do for the day.

The first stop they made was at a large shopping district just outside of the school campus. Unlike the one Julius had visited with Declan and his family, this shopping district was very different. This one was definitely more tailored for tourists and interesting items. The one he went to with Declan had been a place for locals and people who needed to get essentials and other products that were more practical in use.

He was surprised to see that Kyle was the one who was more interested in buying things than anyone else. According to Edgar, Kyle enjoyed buying unique items that were constructed with innovative magic and methods. He would then often take time to experiment with them and use them as inspiration for his own creations.

Julius watched as Kyle was discussing a certain metal water bottle with a vendor who made them animatedly. Julius wasn’t able to hear everything the men were saying, but he was able to catch that Kyle was asking the man how he managed to create the insulation and spatial enchantments within the small inscription.

The vendor was trying his best to explain to Kyle that he couldn’t share his methods of how he created them. However, Kyle was persistent.

He managed to pry information from the guy a little at a time. Julius, who was standing next to Edgar was very impressed with Kyle’s passion for magic and enchanting. It was rare to see someone with such devotion to a field of study.

Off to the side was Aubrey, who had taken the exact opposite approach to Kyle’s. It wasn’t that she wasn’t buying anything, no, far from it. In fact she was buying anything that she thought looked “cute” or “cool”. Those were her only parameters.

Julius watched as she spent countless gold before they even made it partly through the shopping district.

The remaining four of them spent a lot of their time trying out different food stalls. Edgar in particular managed to eat enough for a family of five. He could see why the large fourth-year had gotten so big. Julius was starting to empathize with his parents, it must have practically bankrupted them to keep their beast of a son fed.

Julius gave one last consoling look at Edgar before heading to the next stall. Edgar, who had several items from various shops in both hands saw Julius’s look.

“What? What is it?” He asked through a mouthful of food.

Julius shook his head and gave the much larger student a reassuring pat on the back. “Nothing, don’t worry about it,” he told Edgar before walking off again.

Edgar frowned and pulled Julius back to him with a hand covered in sticky sauce from one of the skewers in his hand. “You just looked at me like I was just diagnosed with the Stygian Rot. What is it?”

Julius sighed and rubbed off the sauce from his black long-sleeved shirt. “I was just thinking that you had a healthy appetite.”

Lily giggled from the side, as well as a snicker from Derek. “I know right? We used to make jokes about his parents having to go hungry just to keep him fed.”

Julius's eyes lit up and he laughed joyfully. “I was just thinking to myself the same thing! His parents must have gone dirt-broke just to feed him!”

“You guys are real funny,” Edgar grumbled.

Lily, Derek, and Julius all laughed together. The only one who didn’t find it as amusing was Edgar. However, when he turned his back to them, Julius was able to barely catch a small grin on the big man’s face.

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

[User]
Write Chapter 131: Social Gathering
Target length: ~2200 words

[Assistant]
Eventually, the six of them finished up and got everything they needed from the shopping district. It was also perfect timing because whatever Lily had planned was about to start and they had to leave in order to make it.

Lily brought them to a very nice part of town. Julius started to notice that everyone around them wore very fancy clothing and expensive jewelry. In comparison, Julius and the others felt out of place.

That wasn’t to say that the five of them weren’t dressed up nicely. Derek, Lily, Kyle, and Aubrey all wore clothing that anyone with a discerning eye could see was of very high quality. It was only Edgar and Julius who were wearing more simple clothing.

“Why didn’t you say we were going someplace with a dress code?” Julius asked Lily quietly.

Lily looked over at Julius and at his choice of outfit. “There isn’t. You can wear whatever you want, they aren’t going to turn us away because you aren’t wearing the newest selection from Alessio.”

“Well, I could have at least worn something more appropriate. I feel like a sitting duck out here,” Julius told her.

“Sitting duck?” Lily asked confused.

“Yeah, you know, like very vulnerable and out of place,” Julius clarified, sometimes his analogies didn’t make sense to the others but they knew better by now.

“You’ll be fine. If anyone makes trouble for you, I will handle them,” Lily laughed lightly while patting her chest.

Not too long after, the group approached a large hall-like structure in the middle of a square. It was Carnegie Hall but on magic steroids. Brilliant gold inlaid stonework decorated the entire exterior of the building. He spotted scores of nobles and other rich folk entering the large imposing doors in front.

“Oh come on. I thought you said we weren’t going to a play,” Aubrey complained.

“It’s not a play,” Lily promised her.

“Looks like one. What else would all these nobles be here for?” Aubrey asked rhetorically.

Lily just smiled and continued to the check-in station. “You’ll see in a moment.”

Julius spotted Derek off to the side who had a look of realization on his face. Julius made his way over to the older student. “It seems like you know why we are here. Want to share the secret with me?” Julius asked in a whisper.

Derek looked over to Julius with a grin of his own. “You’ll find out in a couple of minutes. I’d rather not spoil Lily’s surprise and get on her bad side.”

Julius didn’t like that answer, but he understood Derek’s reasoning. There was no need to risk receiving Lily’s ire when he would find out on his own pretty soon. Though, he did start to brainstorm what it could be.

Lily promised that it wasn’t a play, but it could still be something music-related. Like some sort of orchestra or performance. It would certainly suit the venue they were entering.

When they got in line to check in, Julius noticed that their group was receiving many looks. Not only were they the most underdressed of everyone, but they were also the youngest attendees other than some children who the adults brought with them. They stood out like sore thumbs. Luckily, most of the gazes seemed to be stuck on Derek and Lily.

Based on the whispers that Julius could hear, some of the people had recognized the scions of the Zenith and Violet families. There was even a good number who recognized Kyle, Aubrey, and surprisingly Edgar.

From the murmurs that Julius could pick up, they had recognized the large fourth-year from the year’s previous tournament. Edgar must have left an impression on the people who watched if they were able to recognize him like he was a celebrity.

It actually felt like Julius was surrounded by a bunch of celebrities. And then there was him. While the others got attention and looks of admiration, all he got were looks of confusion and indifference.

They didn’t seem to care who the hell Julius was. In fact, most of the people who even took the time to look at him, probably thought he was some servant or the group’s mascot. It wasn’t just a feeling either. He heard some of them say it very clearly, they weren’t even hiding it.

It was a little bit rude in his opinion and he wanted to go punch them, but he held himself back when he saw Aubrey’s amused smile on her face. Like she wanted to see for herself what he would do. Julius wouldn’t give her that satisfaction, not yet at least. He could control himself from this much. After all, he had heard much worse over the years he stayed at the Hyperius Estate.

At least these nobles didn’t think he was mentally retarded.

Eventually, it became their turn and Lily spoke to the lady who was standing there with a list of names. “Lily Violet, and five guests please.”

Julius watched as the lady didn’t even look at the list of names, before bowing at Lily with a graceful nod. She called over a young man from the corner. “Please escort Miss Violet and her guests to room 14,” she instructed the young man.

The man young man nodded, and the lady turned back to the group. “If you need anything else, please don’t hesitate to ask Gerald. He will be your personal assistant for the night.” She bowed once more. “Please enjoy the auction.”

After they left the lady and followed young Gerald. Aubrey spoke up excitedly. “Auction? Really?”

“What? Were you still expecting a play?” Lily teased.

“Yes,” Aubrey said absolutely serious. “It wouldn’t be the first time you tricked us into seeing one.”

Edgar nodded his head from his spot next to Aubrey. Julius looked over at Lily who met Julius’s judgemental gaze with an embarrassed smile.

“It was only once,” she quickly explained to Julius.

“Twice,” Kyle said off-handedly from the back.

Lily jerked her head back to give Kyle a stern glare before turning back to Julius with a meek smile. “Okay, maybe twice. But the second time didn’t count. It was technically a musical,” she reasoned.

“I would have rather watched a play instead,” Aubrey murmured.

Lily didn’t say anything, but Aubrey flinched and rubbed her head. Julius smiled to himself. Lily most likely just gave Aubrey a little scramble of the brain for her comment.

Julius slowed down so that Derek and him were walking side by side. “So what kind of auction is this?”

Derek smiled. “This particular auction is one that the local branch of the Merchant’s Association and the city put together every so often. It is actually more of an excuse for a social get-together and acts as a fundraiser for many of the city's charities.”

“Oh, so it’s just a function where nobles spend a lot of their money,” Julius said amused.

Derek and Kyle, who was standing behind them chuckled. “Pretty much. But that doesn’t mean that there aren’t some very nice items auctioned off. I expect for there to be some very good items on the menu, considering this weekend has a lot of visitors coming to Heston,” Derek explained.

“Like what kind of items?” Julius asked very interested in what kind of things might be sold tonight. He knew that he didn’t have that much money compared to most higher-tiered individuals. In fact, he was probably the poorest person here. But that didn’t mean he couldn’t be excited to see some cool magical things.

Derek scratched his head in thought. “I would not be surprised to see many Tier 5 items being auctioned off, along with a couple of Tier 6 treasures. Those will most likely be the prized slots for the auction house, but there will be a good number of Tier 3 and 4 items also being sold. The majority of the people here only focus on the Tier 5 and 6 items, so sometimes you can get a Tier 3 or 4 item for a good price.”

“How much would a typical Tier 3 item sell for?” Julius asked. He was wondering if he had enough money to buy something nice for himself.

“I’m not sure. It all depends. Sometimes things sell only for a few gold even things that should sell for more. It’s hard to predict. But if you want something, just let me know and I will get you it,” Derek told Julius.

Julius waved his hand at him. “I don’t plan on getting anything that I can’t afford myself.”

Derek patted his shoulder with a laugh. “No, seriously. If you want something just ask, I have more money than I know what to do with. Consider this a present for your achievement.” He bent down a little to whisper in Julius’s ear. “I already expect Lily is going to get you something. Knowing her, she already knows exactly what it is and is going to get it for you as a gift.”

Julius shook his head. “I don’t need anything. Honestly, I can’t even think of something I would want.”

Derek shrugged his shoulders. “Well, if you do see something, don’t feel shy, okay?”

Julius nodded just as a way to appease Derek. He wasn’t planning to, but he appreciated the thought. Derek saw him nod and didn’t push him any further.

When they got to their room, Julius almost gasped in surprise. It wasn’t a mere room, it was an entire suite. The entire suite was furnished with the most extravagant items and had a lavish spread of food on display. The most impressive thing though, was the spatial enchantments placed on the room.

From the outside, it looked like it was only a room that was ten by ten feet wide, but whatever spatial enchantments they had installed made the room several times larger on the inside.

Kyle, who saw Julius’s expression came up to him. “It was probably made by a Tier 5 craftsman who specializes in spatial enchantments. And whoever it was, did a very good job. I detect zero fluctuations or weak points. I expect it was very expensive to create so many rooms like this.”

“How much do you think it cost?” Julius asked still in awe.

“At this level, it is no longer about money. It is about favors and resources. The auction house must have spared no expense,” Kyle said knowingly.

Julius just nodded his head and found a seat that was reserved for him. It was right next to Lily and Edgar, just like how they ate at the cafeteria. They were placed right in front of the window and he could see the mass of people making their way into their seats below.

The stage in front already had a few items covered in silk tarps placed on it. Julius watched as one of the most beautiful women he had ever seen walked up to the stage, her curves bouncing tantalizingly through her tight dress. She had soft pink hair, a matching pair of eyes, and a sultry look to her. Julius could see why they would have her presenting the items.

Once everyone had finally funneled into their seats. The stunning woman spoke. “Welcome to this evening’s auction.” Her voice sounded like honey to ears but also had an alluring rasp to it, bringing everyone who heard it closer in.

Julius had to activate [Savage Dance] to not be affected by it. He suspected that it was some sort of skill set that played on people’s emotions and baser urges. He wouldn’t be surprised if many people were already smitten with her.

“Unlike usual, there will be several very unique items that are being presented today. Most of them will be toward the tail end of the auction, so please be patient…”

Julius drowned out her introduction a little bit. He didn’t like the feeling of whatever skills she was using on the audience. It didn’t feel unpleasant, but once he noticed it, he couldn’t help but get drawn in. So he kept himself distracted with his other thoughts.

Derek was right. It seems that there will be some interesting items being sold, I wonder what they will be and who will buy them. Maybe there will be some interesting powerful individuals in the audience.

“And now for our very first item.” She removed the silk covering of the first pedestal. “A Tier 4 ice core that came from a mutated variant of an ice elemental. While it is technically an ice-attributed core, make no mistake, it is more valuable than a mere normal ice core. The elemental where it came from had some interesting conditions that imbued properties of the metal affinity to this ice core, making the mana inside of it multitudes more resilient than normal.”

She paused as the audience took it in with interested whispers. “Yes, I can see that many of you already realized what that could mean. The bid starts at a single platinum. Are there any takers?” She asked with a knowing smile.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed the chapter!

[User]
Write Chapter 132: Auction
Target length: ~2300 words

[Assistant]
Julius looked over at Lily and gave her a soft poke to get her attention. “What does she mean? What kind of effects does having metal affinity properties mean for the core?”

Lily looked at Julius with an understanding grin. “My best guess, is that ice elemental somehow consumed a natural treasure of the metal-attribute variety. This would make it possible for the elemental to develop certain skills and abilities that would influence its core. Normally ice cores are used for cold enchantments and sometimes even stability or other structural enchantments. However, if what she is saying is true, then one could expect a talented enchanter to be able to use this particular core for stability enchantments to a higher degree than what the Tier should indicate.”

“Why wouldn’t they just use a Tier 5 ice core then? Wouldn’t that just be an easier solution instead of finding such a rare core?” Julius pointed out.

Lily nodded. “You are kind of correct, but you also have to consider the fact that if one were to use a Tier 5 core, the energy requirements to fuel the enchantment would be prohibitively more expensive.”

“So if someone were to create something with this core, they could create something that has the strength and resilience of a Tier 5 item without the cost?” Julius asked.

“Not exactly, you won’t be able to perfectly replicate a Tier 5s power, but it does get awfully close,” Lily corrected him.

“Probably some rich noble will get it for their kid or someone they care about,” Aubrey said in disappointment.

Kyle shook his head from his spot and made a sound of disgust. “What a waste of a unique core. Imagine the research potential that would be just thrown away.”

Lily must have seen Julius’s look of confusion. “Some noble will use the core to create a weapon or life-saving item for someone. And since it is only a Tier 4 core, a Tier 3 should be able to at least activate under the right conditions. However, the power of the item would have enough to injure a Tier 4 and maybe even a Tier 5 if they’re unlucky.”

“That sounds pretty nice,” Julius said more to himself than anyone else.

“Yeah, nice if you are a coward you can’t fight for yourself,” Aubrey muttered.

Julius nodded his head at her. “Yeah, but what if a craftsman who isn’t specialized in combat gets attacked? It might save their life from someone. I don’t expect someone who spends most of their day crafting to be able to handle themselves like us.”

Aubrey frowned at that. “I doubt it will go to a craftsman. Most likely, it will go to a spoiled noble’s brat.”

Julius just shrugged his shoulders at her. I can’t deny that. Odds are pretty high that it will go to some rich noble’s son, after all, Julius thought to himself.

He took a look at the stage where the price of the core had already exceeded several dozen platinum at this point, quickly exceeding the low price of its initial bidding price.

In the end, it was sold for almost a hundred platinum. Julius laughed to himself. The first item had already sold for more than he had in the entire storage ring that he had gotten from Geoffrey.

He had at most a few dozen platinum in his ring all put together. He had a sneaking suspicion that he wouldn’t be buying anything from here tonight.

Many items went and passed over the course of the auction. Julius saw some amazing things being sold off for extraordinary prices. One thing that caught his eye was an unhatched egg from a Tier 4 Infernal Drake. A species that is well known for its possibility for evolving into a dragon at Tier 5 if they ever reached that point.

That one sold for well over three hundred platinum.

Luckily, the auction made the bids completely anonymous, so whoever bought it wouldn’t have to worry about someone stealing it later on. All bids were made from a device that each person was given when they entered the auction.

The only ones who bought anything were Kyle and Aubrey. Kyle ended up spotting an elegant engraving tool. It looked like a black and gold fountain pen, costing Kyle a pricey fifty-three platinum.

Aubrey had her eyes on a rare gemstone. It was a Tier 3 Blood Crystal and according to her, could enhance her physical strength if she used it. Fortunately for her, not many people could use it and she ended up getting such an item for a mere thirty-two platinum, a very good bargain according to her.

The others didn’t feel interested in buying anything, most of them, specifically Edgar were content snacking on the buffet they were offered and talking about interesting items that popped up.

It wasn’t until the most recent item came up that Julius paid really close attention. The rest of the audience didn’t seem to pay it that much mind, it was nothing that spectacular by the auction's standards.

But to Julius, it was something that was very intriguing to him. The item was a Tier 3 life-attributed treasure called a Sylvan Petal. It was grown in some of the most dense life-attributed environments. Many of its uses were alchemy-related and could produce some amazing items for healing as well as many other life affinity products.

This so far was the only thing that Julius might be buying the entire night. If he could get it for under twenty platinum he would buy it. Who knew, maybe Drasil could find a use for it. He really liked the life-affinity troll core, maybe consuming a potion from this Sylvan Petal would help him.

The pretty lady with pink hair on stage began the process without delay. “Okay, the starting bid is one platinum is there-” Julius watched as the lady for the first time seems taken out of her rhythm.

She quickly got herself back together. “Sorry, that was fast. We already have a current bid of a hundred platinum. Are there any takers for one hundred and one platinum?”

A hundred platinum? Right off the bat? He heard the crowd murmur through the glass pane of their room. There hadn’t been such an extreme initial bid all night and it took many people by surprise.

The hundred platinum must have been too much for anyone else interested or maybe they were scared off by the fast overpriced bid. Whoever it was, clearly wanted it and while the bidding was anonymous, maybe they didn’t want to take the chance of offending someone with such wealth. The person who offered such a large sum won within moments of the item being introduced. It was the fastest-sold item of the entire night by a long shot.

Julius on the other hand was disappointed. He had been excited to enter his bid and participate in the auction. He didn’t think he would win with his low budget but he wanted to experience it and have some fun. He had his own device sitting in his own hands, eagerly awaiting his turn. Now he just felt sad. He didn’t even get to bid a single amount.

He was so caught up in his self-pity, that he didn’t even notice that the other four were looking at each other with weird looks.

Eventually, the auction moved on and they started to present some of the more prestigious items. They started off with a Tier 5 explosion core. A rare variant of a normal fire core that was unsurprisingly used for items that blew things up.

Another Tier 5 item that caught his eye was a life-attributed healing treasure. It specifically healed injuries caused to the soul and other permanent wounds that were unable to be healed by traditional healing skills. It was supposedly heads and shoulders more effective than anything found at a lower Tier.

Many of the Tier 5 items were highly sought after, and the Tier 6 items that were shown after, even more so.

One of the Tier 6 items that were being sold was a core from a monster called a Stellar Storm Tiger. Julius watched mesmerized as the core sparkled and radiated a power, unlike anything else that had been on stage.

He could practically smell the thick scent of burning ozone and felt faint strands of electricity running through his limbs.

It created quite a craze from the audience when they saw it on display. Bid after bid was made, rocketing the price of the item to over ten thousand platinum.

The others informed him that platinum was only used to quantify the price for the auction house but many times the person who bought it could negotiate with the seller of the product with other things they might want of similar value. If nothing could be agreed upon then the final price was what the buyer had to pay.

Julius couldn’t believe how much wealth he saw on display. He was starting to see why Declan said not to worry about a couple of dozen platinum, and compared it to a paltry sum. Because it was. These people were throwing hundreds and sometimes even thousands of times more money than that on a singular item.

It was enlightening and humbling, to say the least.

It was also safe to say that nobody from their group chose to buy any of the Tier 5 or 6 items. They had no need for them, they were only Tier 2 and 3 after all. It was a little bit anti-climatic but the auction ended without much fanfare or anything of note.

Since Kyle and Aubrey had both bought items, a member of the auction house came to their room. It was a young woman, much like the one from the check-in area, but this one felt different. Julius couldn’t make out the aura of her, but the way she held herself spoke of extreme confidence.

He had no doubts that this woman was at least Tier 4 and maybe even Tier 5. Which would make sense considering she was delivering such valuable items to influential individuals.

Once Aubrey and Kyle paid for their items and they stored them away in their own personal storage devices, Julius was surprised that the young woman didn’t leave. Instead, she went over to Lily and took out a box much like the one that held the other’s items.

Lily without missing a beat, took out a hundred platinum coins and handed them to the woman, who gave a polite bow and left them alone.

Julius was about to ask about what time their dinner reservation was, considering it was probably around six o’clock, but something stuck out to him.

Wait, a hundred platinum coins? Julius asked himself.

He looked over at Lily, who wouldn’t meet his eyes for some reason. So Julius walked over to her with hurried steps. He was slightly taller, so he had to look down on her, but she still wouldn’t look at him.

“It was you?” He asked confused.

She just nodded her head softly and held out the box to him. “Congratulations,” she said gently.

Julius didn’t take the box. “I can’t accept such an expensive gift,” he said seriously.

She looked him in the eyes and gave him the most tragic-looking gaze. “You won’t?” She asked in a depressed tone.

He felt like someone had just stabbed him in the back of the heart. Now he felt like a piece of shit. Which if he knew her, was exactly her plan. She would try to guilt him into taking it.

Instead of answering her, he turned to the others who were wearing knowing smiles. “I thought you said she was cheap,” he accused them.

“Oh, she is,” Aubrey stated emphatically. “But that usually extends only to herself and not her friends.”

Julius wore a frown. “Wait, did you guys know?”

Derek chuckled. “Not many nobles would throw around a hundred platinum for a mere Tier 3 life-attributed treasure, no matter how rich they were. Plus, we told you how wealthy she was. Did you think we were exaggerating?”

“Yeah, just take it. She could have probably bought all the items at the auction easily. A hundred platinum to her is literally a couple of coppers to someone like you,” Aubrey said casually while simultaneously insulting Julius’s own financial status.

Damn, Julius knew she was wealthy, but being able to spend tens of thousands of platinum like that was on a completely different level.

He looked back at Lily and carefully took the box from her still-extended arms with a genuine smile. “Thank you, it’s a great gift.”

Lily’s previous tragic expression was wiped off like it was never there. “I know right?! I went through their catalogue of what they were selling tonight and I came across that. I thought it would be a perfect fit for you and Drasil.”

“So I can use this for Drasil?” Julius asked curiously.

“Of course, and even better, Drasil can take it without any processing. It will actually work better for him that way. A Sylvan Petal is a great treasure for any blooming life spirit. A hundred platinum is actually not a bad price for one,” Lily said with a smug smile.

Julius just shook his in disbelief as Lily turned into an excited girl over a new shiny object in a matter of seconds. It was a very nice gift though, he would make sure to remember it.

Thank you for reading, I hope you enjoyed!

[User]
Write Chapter 133: Golden Wheel
Target length: ~2600 words

[Assistant]
Julius tucked away the Sylvan Petal for later use. However, he had to promise to let everyone know when he would be using it so that they could participate or at least observe what happens.

After the group left the auction house, the six of them headed toward their dinner reservation at the Golden Wheel. A place that Julius was very excited to see for himself. The others had talked it up so much, that he was expected many great things.

He’d even prevented himself from stuffing his face at the buffet as Edgar had done. He didn’t have an endless gaping pit of a stomach that Edgar seemed to have. In some ways, Julius was envious of the big muscular man’s appetite.

To Julius’s surprise, they didn’t walk to the restaurant. Derek had the bright foresight to hire a carriage to take them there. Carriages were very expensive in Heston, especially considering the city didn’t allow any carriages that were drawn by horses or other creatures.

Apparently, there was an issue with too much fecal matter from them being left behind on the roads.

All of the carriages seen on the street were fueled by mana. Perhaps if Julius didn’t have memories from his old world he would have been more taken away by the innovative carriages. Unfortunately, even the carriage, as nice as it was, didn’t have the same allure as some of the nicer cars from his old world. It was one of the few parts of this new world that fell short of his old.

When they arrived at the restaurant, Julius looked upon the entrance in awe. The restaurant was practically half the size of the auction house they were just at. It was that massive, and in some ways, much nicer than it. It certainly lived up to its name.

The entire restaurant revolved around the golden wheel theme. The entrance had a fifty-foot wheel hanging from above, softly spinning in motion. The entire place was covered in gold decorations and art. And surprisingly, was still very tasteful and not over the top. Julius didn’t know how the designers managed that.

There were colorful mana constructs dancing around the air, dazzling the guests and even bringing them warm enchanted towels for them to wash their hands on until a staff member took them to their seats.

There were multiple floors of the Golden Wheel. The lower levels were for most of the customers, the upper floors were designated for special occasions and VIPs.

He leaned over to Lily as they were following the staff member. “I’m surprised you didn’t get us a floor on the upper floors,” he whispered in her ear.

She looked over her shoulder and shook her head amusingly. “Funnily enough, the bottom level is the most enjoyable to eat at. At least for us. Upstairs can feel a little lonely and stuffy. It's full of people with an inflated opinion of themselves who don’t actually enjoy the food, but enjoy the status of eating here. We think that being surrounded by people who are enjoying the food aspect of the restaurant is more pleasant to be around.”

Ah, I can see how that might happen.

The menu for dinner was a thirteen-course menu, and diners were allowed to choose between a couple of options for each course. It must have been absolute chaos to keep track of everything. Julius had no doubts that most of the staff were Tier 2 or 3 just to keep up.

“Thirteen courses sound like a lot. Are the servings small or something?” he asked Derek who was sitting across from him.

Julius could see no other way someone could eat so much food without falling into a food-induced coma.

“That’s the magic of the restaurant,” Derek replied with a smile. “The chefs in this place have a special set of skills that imbue the food with effects that will always keep you hungry.”

“But surely there would still be a point where it is physically impossible to put any more food in one’s body right?” Julius pointed out.

Aubrey jumped in excitedly. “That’s the best part! I don’t know how they do it, but they managed to perfectly balance alchemy practices with their food. The food dissipates much like a potion or other mana-based consumable would.”

“So you never get full?” Julius asked confused. Wasn’t that the whole point of going to a restaurant? To get one’s tummy full?

Aubrey chuckled at him. “Nope, by the end of the night, you are in the perfect state of hungry but not comatose.”

Julius still didn’t quite know what she was talking about. He would have to wait and see what she was talking about for himself.

While they were waiting for their food and making idle small talk, Julius took the time to look around. Unsurprisingly, he noticed that a lot of the people dining here were nobles if their attire was any indicator. But he was also pleasantly surprised to see many commoners as well.

He could tell that they were commoners based on their clothing. It wasn’t a dig on them, but it was just an observation. Their outfits were nice, with buttons and everything. But it was also made of more practical and rugged materials. Their attitudes were different too, they were more down to earth than the nobles.

Julius almost laughed when he spotted some a family who were holding the silverware like one would hold two swords. He also noticed that the fare was much more rustic than what he had been expecting from such a fancy place.

“What’s with all the commoners? I heard that this place was really hard to get into, even for nobles.” Julius noted.

Lily smiled brightly. “It’s actually a touching reason. The owner and chef of the restaurant are husband and wife. They were both born as commoners and they wanted to create a place where commoners are welcome as well. So at any time half of the restaurant is dedicated to commoners only. It is also the reason why the prices are really reasonable considering how high quality the meal is. They still offer higher tiered food items for nobles and such, but most commoners are only Tier 2 or 3, so normal fare is fine with them.”

“Don’t some of the nobles cause problems because of that?” Julius asked.

“Most know better than to start something here. After all, Headmaster Keiron himself helped the couple open the restaurant,” Lily said.

The Headmaster? Julius wouldn’t have expected the restaurant to have such influential backers. Just as Julius was about to respond, their waiter brought over their first course.

He could smell the nutty scent of toasted wheat before it even reached them. Each of them was presented with a small dish of their very own freshly baked bread, along with a healthy serving of butter on the side.

It wasn’t quite the first course he expected for a restaurant of its reputation, but he wasn’t complaining. The bread looked absolutely divine. It was more akin to a croissant with how flaky it was. Also who didn’t love fresh bread with their dinner?

The first bite was all he needed to forget about anything else. The taste was even better than the smell and looks. Julius caught himself actually moaning in appreciation at how delicious the bread was. It was by far the best bite of bread that he had ever had in either life. The perfect balance between flaky and soft was impeccable. It was also deeply nutty and had a touch of sweetness.

Then just when Julius didn’t think it could get better, he put a good smear of butter all over his next bit and he thought he died and went to heaven. He had a whole Ratatouille moment in the middle of his meal, remembering the first time he and his mother had made homemade bread when he was younger.

It tasted just as good, if not better.

He looked over at the others to see how they were reacting and he laughed loudly at what he saw. Every one of them was shoving their entire loaves down their throat with eagerness. Even the normally refined Derek, Kyle, and Lily were eating as fast as decorum would allow them.

Not a single one of them looked up from their plates. Aubrey and Edgar were shockingly already done with their loaves, polishing them up in record time. However, what shocked Julius more, was that the waiter was already there placing brand-new loaves of bread in front of the two of them.

Julius met eyes with the male waiter and the man smiled at him. “It’s not my first time serving them. They go through multiple loaves every time throughout the night, so I make sure to keep many on hand.”

Julius just shook his head and chuckled. Apparently, the two of them were such gluttons that the staff at the restaurant remembered. No wonder the two of them got along so well with Drasil. They were three peas in a pod.

However, Julius quickly realized that he had no moral high ground to make fun of them. Just like them, he had already finished his loaf before he knew it and the waiter was right there in a second placing another loaf in front of him with a knowing smile.

The best part was that Aubrey wasn’t exaggerating. He didn’t feel the slightest bit full yet. Even though he was well into his second loaf before his second course, he didn’t even feel like he ate anything. Normally he would be upset. But this time it was a blessing. More hungry meant more food he could eat.

The second and third courses that followed were just as good. Unfortunately, the bread was the only thing that you could get unlimited amounts of. He would have loved to have that deep-fried soft-shelled crab a hundred more times. He didn’t think a crustacean could be so juicy and taste so heavenly. And the sauce, don’t get him started on that spicy, tangy, sweet succulent sauce.

He was so absorbed in his food that he missed the entrance of someone he knew. Well, not really know, but who he had recently seen.

It was the cake girl. The cake girl had just sat down next to a tall slim blonde woman at a table a couple dozen paces away. Julius knew right away that the blonde woman was the same woman who had been invisible. Julius noticed that the woman was older than the cake girl. The cake girl was probably around his age. But the woman looked slightly older and had a maturity to her that her appearance didn’t show.

While the cake girl was talking animately as she devoured the same bread Julius had gotten four orders of, the blond woman was sitting poised, constantly looking around. It was almost like the woman was keeping an eye on their surroundings at all times.

She must’ve felt his face on them because soon after he looked over, she jerked her head to look right at him in the eyes. He saw multiple emotions fly across the woman’s face before she decided on a neutral one.

Julius didn’t avert his gaze and instead smiled at her and nodded in her direction.

However, he wasn’t the only one to notice where Julius was staring. Aubrey had just finished off her crab, licking her fingers clean, and immediately going for another piece of bread. However, as she did, she also caught him staring at the two girls.

“You know them?” She mumbled to Julius over a mouthful of bread.

He shook his head slightly. “Not really, the black-haired girl ate my cake.”

Aubrey scrunched his nose. “Cake?”

“Yeah, I was enjoying some cake in the gardens at night and she came up and practically demanded some,” Julius explained.

“You want to invite her over?” Aubrey asked him.

Julius laughed at Aubrey’s teasing, but slowly stopped as he realized that she wasn’t joking. She had her serious face on, the same face she had when she had asked him what color of dress she should wear when they left school.

Julius frantically shook his head. “No! I don’t even know her name,” he told her.

“Well, you can ask once I invite her over,” Aubrey said with a grin.

Julius looked at her seriously. “Don’t you dare.”

“What? You need to get to befriend some other kids your own age. Once we are gone next year, you won’t have us around. You need to extend your wings a little bit,” she told him.

“She’s a girl, befriending girls can be complicated,” Julius pointed out.

“Even better! A girlfriend would be good for you,” Aubrey said excited about the idea.

“I don’t need a girlfriend,” Julius said exasperated. This wasn’t the first time the topic came up either.

“Bullshit. A girlfriend would keep you from-.”

“Running myself into the ground,” Julius finished for her. “I know you’ve brought this up multiple times.”

“Only because I am right. Tell him, Lily!” Aubrey pulled Lily in, getting back up.

“What?” Lily asked airily. She had been too focused on finishing her crab to listen to their conversation.

“Tell Julius that he should get a girlfriend,” Aubrey commanded her.

Lily to her credit didn’t miss a beat. “You should get a girlfriend,” she told him plainly.

Julius threw up his arms. “Not you too. What do you think I need to get one to slow me down too?”

Lily shook her head. “No, I just think it would be cute to see you running around with a girlfriend.”

“I agree,” Aubrey said while pushing back her chair.

Julius immediately absorbed all the kinetic energy from her, preventing her from moving. However, she must have expected him to do that because she already had her aura up and running, fighting against his will and technique.

However, to her surprise, she found that his will wasn’t like it was just a week ago.

Something he realized during his willpower training for his Concept, was that willpower influenced a lot of other things not just his Concept. For example, his kinetic absorption technique didn’t work well on humans because they had naturally strong wills. A golem or troll not so much.

That was why he had always struggled with using his kinetic affinity to siphon her kinetic energy before. However, it was different now. With his increase in willpower alongside his newly ranked up soul from his Soul Evolution, he was able to influence Aubrey more than he had in the past.

He saw her eyebrows raise in concern and she had to put a lot more energy into fighting him off. Unfortunately, defending with willpower was much easier than attacking with it and Aubrey wasn’t any slouch in that department. So no matter how hard he tried to stop her, he couldn’t.

The only way he could was to leap across the table and tackle her, but he didn’t like that option. That would be even more embarrassing and bring too much attention.

As such he had to watch with defeated eyes as she walked directly to the table where the cake girl was sitting at.

Thank you for reading, I hope you all enjoyed the chapter!

[User]
Write Chapter 134: Secret Bakery
Target length: ~2400 words

[Assistant]
Amelia POV

Amelia had to admit, the princess was right about this place. The food so far had been incredible. It was actually hard to maintain vigilance while still trying to blend in and eat like the rest of the customers because she just wanted to eat the entire time.

Of course, she still had her duty. She had made sure to research every location they had visited that day. She didn’t like surprises, boring was best. Boring is what kept her charge alive.

At the moment, Princess Reinera was disguised as Grace, a first-year enrolled at Goldencrest and Amelia was officially there as a teaching assistant. All at the behest of the headmaster who did it out of respect for the princess’s privacy and protection. At least that was what they told everyone who asked.

Thankfully, this restaurant was famously known for being backed by some of the most powerful people in the entire region. It arguably, might have been the safest location to eat at in all of Heston.

Of course, she had to jinx it. Because soon after they arrived at the Golden Wheel and started to eat their first course, Amelia spotted an unexpected surprise.

It was the same boy from last night. At first, she thought she was seeing things, but then she noticed that the boy had noticed them as well. They locked eyes for a moment, that seemed to stretch longer than it really was. She saw the matching confusion and surprise coming off of his face, and it seemed genuine as well.

Probably not on purpose that he’s here then, she assured herself. Most likely, it was just a coincidence.

She took a quick look at the people he was eating with. There were five others, all older than the boy, whose name she still hadn’t found out. She normally would have investigated last night after their interaction, but she had to deal with planning this last-minute excursion to the city.

The five of his friends were all busy stuffing their faces full, much like the princess next to her. She didn’t blame any of them either. The bread was mouthwatering good, it was better than many of the things the palace chefs made.

However, just as she was about to return to looking at the black-haired boy, who was now talking to the older girl across from him, she recognized one of the other boys. Tall, blonde hair, and electric blue eyes that almost danced with lightning. There was no doubt, that that was Derek Zenith.

Derek Zenith was the prize jewel of Duke Zenith’s household. A perfect lightning affinity, was intelligent, poised, and according to all rumors, a very nice young man. A rarity from someone with his pedigree and talent.

Once she recognized Derek she put together who the rest of the table was. Their group was well-known to people who paid attention. Next to the Zenith prodigy, was a pale lean young man. That was most likely Kyle Quincy, a person who was said to become one of the youngest Grand Scholars in the Empire.

On the other side was the girl who the black-haired younger boy was now arguing with. Aubrey Crysalia, the sole daughter of Fiona Crysalia, better known as the Crystal Tyrant. Very talented in her own right, having the perfect crystal affinity inherited from her mother.

Next to her was someone who was in contention, along with Derek to win the entire Intra-School Tournament. Edgar Crow was born a commoner but quickly proved his worth and power within the first year of his enrollment. He didn’t have a perfect affinity, but he did have something that was more terrifying.

Raw skill and instinct. When it came to hand-to-hand combat, there weren’t many other students his age in the entire Empire that could touch him. She knew that Derek was technically stronger according to rumors, but if she had to choose someone to bring into battle with her, someone like Edgar Crow would be her choice without a doubt.

Then on the other side of the younger boy, sat someone Amelia was very aware of by pure reputation. Lily Violet was the next head of House Violet, there was no doubt to anyone who paid attention. Even her father knew and encouraged it. Just this last summer, Amelia had heard the news of the young psychic negotiating several new deals with many powerful groups, vastly expanding their already large holdings all by herself.

Putting aside that she was the inheritor of one of the most wealthy families on the continent, she was a prodigy in her own right. While not suited for direct combat, Amelia would say that she was potentially the most dangerous out of their entire group. Everyone knew how scary a decent psychic was, but one of the best in her generation? That was downright horrifying.

And then there was the insolent cake boy. Who the hell was the cake boy to be hanging around with the group who would grow up to become some of the most influential people in the entire Empire? It didn’t make sense.

It almost made her angry in some ways. Many people have tried to join their close-knit group, but have all failed. Where did he go right where others went wrong, to be sitting next to them eating and even arguing with them like they were old friends?

She was lost in her own head when she spotted Aubrey Crysalia get up from her seat and head in their direction. Amelia immediately went on guard, wondering what the girl could want with them.

The tall brunette walked up to their table with a friendly smile and looked at Reinera who was still eating her bread with great enthusiasm. “Heya! I’m Aubrey and I came over because Julius mentioned that he shared some cake with you the other night.”

Reinera ripped her head away from her bread and took in the tall girl who had approached them. She was clearly taken aback and didn’t know what to do. “Pardon?”

“Julius said that he shared some cake with you last night and I was wondering if you wanted to join us at our table,” the girl asked with a smile.

Reinera looked around and spotted the same young black-haired boy from last night sitting at a distant table with both hands on his face, clearly embarrassed. However, she could recognize his hair as well as the fact that the girl mentioned cake. There was only one person who she ate cake with last night.

After a moment, she finally turned to look at the older girl. “You want me to sit with you guys?” She asked, confused at the offer.

“Yeah, why not? You guys seem to just be getting started, we can wait until you guys catch up. It’s not like we are going to get full anytime soon,” she said with a chuckle.

Princess Reinera took a few moments to mull it over and then turned to Amelia with a pleading look. “Can we?”

Amelia frowned, she didn’t know why Reinera had wanted to join them so badly. Amelia was pretty sure that she had no idea who the group was and who the person she was talking to was. Reinera made a conscious effort to not pay attention to who the important people were.

It was a tricky situation. If it was anyone else she would have denied them right out of the gate. However, she was very hesitant to decline this group. Offending the future scions of several great houses was not a smart idea.

It was also potentially very beneficial for the princess. Becoming friends with this group could garner more political clout than she could hope for. It was a big reason why Amelia had supported her coming to Heston.

Finally, Amelia looked at Reinera and reluctantly nodded her head.

Julius POV

He couldn’t believe that she really just did that. However, what was more unbelievable was that the two girls said yes. Why would they say yes?

However, a more scary factor came to mind. Did she think he had more cake? Was she there to ask for more?

Admittedly, he did have another cake stored away in his ring, but that was beside the point. He didn’t understand why they were coming over. He wanted nothing more than to have Aubrey all alone in a training room, just so he could give her a much-deserved thrashing. He was furious, but tried to hide it well.

“Hey guys, I invited these two over if that’s okay,” Aubrey said with a smug smile directed at Julius.

He just glared at her, promising retribution at some point.

The young girl with black hair gave a very elegant bow. “Hello, my name is Grace,” she introduced herself before turning to her friend. “This here is Amelia. I know that your friend Aubrey said it was okay for us to join you guys, but if it's not, then I completely understand.” She was clearly nervous, fidgeting with both of her hands on the hem of her dress.

Lily was the first one from their group to respond. “I don’t mind, I don’t know about the others though.” She looked over at the rest of them and all of them except for Julius nodded or shrugged their shoulders. They didn’t care, they were too focused on their meal. She turned to look at Julius with a sympathetic smile. He knew that she could feel his frustration with her abilities.

Grace had a grateful smile on her face. “Thank you,” said said sincerely.

The waiter who had been constantly keeping an eye over them for the entirety of the meal, was already taking another two chairs out of his storage device and placed them right next to Aubrey. Julius was realizing that this man was annoyingly good at his job.

The first few minutes were awkward, to say the least. Julius realized that there was no stopping it now since it had already happened. He would just need to go with the flow.

That was the reason why he put his full attention back to his fifth serving of delicious bread. Since they were going to eat with the two newcomers, they were going to have to put their next course on hold until the other two caught up with them. Just another reason why Julius hadn’t wanted them to join them.

Thankfully, it didn’t bother him too much. He was having a great time just shoving food down his mouth and didn’t feel like socializing with the girls who ate his cake last night.

So in the meantime, he would just have to be satisfied with his unlimited bread.

“So Grace I heard that you stole Julius’s cake last night,” Aubrey said to the girl next to her in a conspiratory tone.

The girl, Grace, whipped her head to look at Julius with surprise. “He said that?”

“Yep, he even said you practically threatened to beat him up for it,” Aubrey said accusingly.

“I did not!” Grace denied it wholeheartedly.

“Stop it, Aubrey,” Edgar said disapprovingly from the side. “You already invited her, no need to tease the both of them.”

What he left unsaid was that she shouldn’t push it after she had invited them over against Julius’s wishes. However, she knew Edgar enough to know what he was talking about.

Julius made sure to give Edgar a grateful nod, he could always count on the big man. Well, almost all the time. If it involved an angry Lily, Edgar usually was nowhere to be seen.

“Sorry,” Aubrey said with a giggle. “I just wanted to lighten the mood.”

Grace seemed to understand that Aubrey was just lying to rile her up and she got a little red in the face. Julius spotted her invisible friend Amelia's lips turn down in disapproval.

“That is actually a big reason why I accepted your invitation,” Grace said abruptly to Aubrey, before turning to Julius. “We went all around town today, stopping in every bakery we found but we weren’t able to find the place where you got the cake,” she said dissapointedly.

Julius took the time to chew the bread in his mouth before responding. “And you want me to tell you where I got it, yeah?”

She nodded her head vigorously.

“What do I get in return?” He asked her.

“Pardon?” She questioned.

Julius sensed the Amelia girl gripping her leg hard underneath the table with [Spatial Perception]. He had a feeling that she didn’t like him very much or the way he was talking to Grace. However, the girl herself didn’t seem to mind, so he didn’t care too much about it.

“Well you still owe me for the cake, and now you want me to give up my secret cake supplier?” He asked in mock offense.

She seemed to contemplate his words seriously for a few moments. “What do you have in mind for exchange?”

“I don’t know, I was thinking about a favor I could cash in at a later time. How does that sound?” Julius asked. He saw her think about his offer with an amused grin on her face.

“A favor of equal exchange?” She asked for clarification.

“Of course. I won’t be asking you to beat up a bunch of annoying nobles or anything like that if that’s what you’re asking.”

She instantly relaxed. “Oh, that’s fine then. Okay, a favor in exchange for the knowledge of the bakery.” She reached over the table, offering her hand. Julius smiled and stood up, reaching across and giving it a nice firm shake.

“That might be why you couldn’t find it,” he told her once he sat back down.

“What do you mean?” She asked confused.

“It’s not technically a bakery,” Julius chuckled at the face she made when she heard that. He then told her the location of the shop. It was actually a small clothing shop that Julius had gone to with Declan and his family that one weekend. The owner of the shop just so happened to bake some of the best cakes he’s ever had. Julius had made sure to go back there afterward to buy some cakes from her.

He had to admit, he enjoyed the frustrated look on both of the women’s faces after he told them. It seemed like the two of them had really spent a lot of time searching for the place where he bought the cake.

Thank you so much for reading!

[User]
Write Chapter 135: Unraveling
Target length: ~2700 words

[Assistant]
After they had negotiated for information about the location of his cake supplier, the dinner was much less awkward. They made small talk, learning that Grace was a fellow first year and that Amelia was a newly hired teaching assistant.

While it was going well, Julius did note that Amelia had made several snide comments to him throughout the night, but being the bigger man, he had pretended not to notice. However, he knew that Lily and Derek picked up on it as well.

At least Grace was pleasant to be around. She didn’t say much, as she was too focused on eating. It was just like how she had devoured his cake. Julius was amused to see that she managed to put away just as much bread as Aubrey did in half the time. It was nice to have a meal with someone who enjoyed their food as much as he did. He knew that the others felt the same way.

It was something Julius could appreciate from the young girl. A healthy stomach spoke of a healthy soul. The rest of the meal was just as delicious, he was sad when the end of their night came to an end. However, just like Derek and Aubrey had promised, he left the restaurant with a full belly. It was the perfect balance of full but not stuffed.

However, as they were leaving they noticed a commotion in the lobby of the restaurant. A large group of people in luxurious clothes were coming down the stairs and two groups were arguing quite loudly.

Julius was just about to ignore them like the others were, but then he saw something attached to the chest of one group. It was an emblem of a wolf with two spears crossing behind it. It was exactly the emblem of Duke Greyson’s House.

It was like a switch flipped. The moment Julius saw it, he felt an incredible surge of rage bubble to the surface. Rage that he had been keeping tightly sealed away in the depths of his soul.

He found himself slowly inching toward them menacingly, mana pulsing through his veins without him even noticing he was doing so.

The only reason he stopped was because he felt Lily grab his shoulder before he could get any closer. She must have felt his swing in emotions and was worried about what he would do.

He looked down at her and she was looking at him with concerned eyes. She knew better than anyone why he would be feeling this way. He told her about Duke Greyson and what they did at the estate. So she had a good guess that he wasn’t heading over to them with intentions of giving them a hug.

He was so angry that even a fully empowered [Savage Dance] wasn’t able to control his emotions. The pit of anger just kept getting bigger and bigger, it took everything Julius had to keep the lid on it. He knew that if he let go for even a single second, he wouldn’t be able to wrangle control again.

Just when he thought his anger was about to get out of hand, he felt a soothing sensation flow through him, cooling even the fiery rage that bubbled in his chest. He turned to look at who was responsible. Lily was still holding his shoulder, but he could feel her pushing some type of skill into him.

It was like a soothing balm for his soul.

If it was anyone else he wouldn’t have allowed them to mess with his emotions. But this was Lily. Julius allowed her to keep on feeding him the relaxing feeling of whatever technique she was using.

However, even with her help, Julius still had to keep [Savage Dance] active. But the worst had passed and he felt like he had enough control to turn and give Lily a grateful squeeze on her shoulder.

He took another glance at the group that was still arguing with the other one just in front of him. Now that he was looking closer he could see that the group consisted of three main individuals. It was difficult to tell which one of them was the person in charge, but he would guess the person in the middle. Everyone else in his group appeared to be retainers of some type or servants.

Around half a dozen men and women were spread around the group. With just as many on the other group’s side. However, they weren’t doing the arguing. That was done by the three people of the Greyson group as well as the two leaders of the other group.

There were also two large looming men who were clearly there for protection if their strong auras were any indicator. Their auras were decently well controlled, but the small amount that leaked out screamed Tier 4. They also had Greyson crests but theirs were over a sleek piece of armor that stood out in the restaurant where everyone was dressed normally.

The three Greyson guys were all young and around Tier 3, maybe even Tier 4 if they were weak. It was hard to tell because they wore multiple devices that hid their aura.

The one in the middle was tall, handsome, and had long ash-grey hair put up in a ponytail. The other two had dark brown hair but were equally as handsome. However, it was their expressions that made their good looks go to waste. Their faces were screwed with anger and sneers as they yelled at the other party, creating a commotion.

Just looking at their faces made Julius want to launch a fully empowered spike of mana at them with no regard for what might happen as a consequence. This was the same House what had caused the attack at the estate. The attack had taken Lukas and Edwin away from him.

In his mind, he knew that these men were unlikely to be directly responsible. That was the only reason why they were still alive and that Julius hadn’t wasted them the second he saw them. But that didn’t mean that they weren’t still connected with the House that caused it to happen. No, in Julius’s mind, they were partly guilty just by association. They were even wearing House Greyson’s crests over their chests like like proud badges of honor.

Julius gently removed Lily’s hand from his shoulder and before he could do anything stupid, he immediately stormed out of the restaurant, ignoring his group’s worried looks.

However, Julius also spotted something else mixed into their expressions. Distaste, they carefully hid hints of distaste when they looked at the members of House Greyson, even Grace had a similar look on her face.

When he stepped out into the cool crisp breeze of the city, he took a deep ragged breath. No matter how much his anger wanted to be let free, he couldn’t allow it to do what it wanted. He was in charge, he wouldn’t allow his rage to ruin everything.

If he attacked them in the middle of the restaurant, he would be captured and killed by their Tier 4 bodyguards. While the rest of the group had seemed like weak users, who mostly advanced through supplemental means, those two were genuine Tier 4 elites.

They didn’t give off the same vibe as Gabriel or Declan, but it was close. He wasn’t quite on that level yet. He just needed more time. He was getting stronger by the day and now that he had a Concept and acquired an epic-rank skill, he felt himself reaching the required strength to have a fighting chance. He just needed to be patient.

He distantly heard the others follow him outside and approach him cautiously.

“Are you alright?” Grace asked concerned.

Julius didn’t say anything or even acknowledge her.

The others knew better than to talk to him right now. They understood why he had stormed out and gave him some space to calm down.

“What happened? Why did you leave in such a rush?” Grace asked again.

Julius had to take another deep breath to not snap at her for asking too many questions. It’s not like she knows, he reminded himself. She is just being curious, which is natural. But his posture seemed to scare the girl regardless.

However, unlike Grace who sounded genuinely concerned. Amelia didn’t have the same approach. Her tone was confrontational. “Aren’t you going to answer her question?” She said offended, as if scolding him like a child.

Julius felt a lance of irritation spear him right through the chest and ever so slowly turned his head to look at Amelia with a furious gaze. His eyes contained all of the restrained rage he had been holding in.

The entire dinner, Amelia had been nothing but dismissive, if not outright rude to him. Making those exact same type of snide remarks. Not to the others, no, only to him. He had a feeling that she knew who they were and wouldn’t risk offending them.

Normally, he would have ignored it but after he had just gone to such extreme lengths to control his anger, this tipped him right over the edge. It was her tone, the tone as if Julius was an insignificant ant who should be gratefully bowing at her feet for allowing him in her presence.

With a scoff he let the last threads of his control unravel.

Amelia POV

Amelia had enough of the insolent boy. He showed no respect to her lady or herself. He held himself with so much arrogance and pride. The gall he had to scam a favor out of Reinera. First, he made her sit on the ground, then he talked to her with no respect, and now this?

She would not take such a slight from an ignorant and weak Tier 2 child. He should be grateful that he could even talk in the presence of anyone at the table. Every single one of them held status far above him, she didn’t even care to mention the power gap between them. Even Reinera was far above the young idiot.

She excused how he talked with the others somewhat because it seemed like they were somewhat friendly. But there was only so much she could take from a Tier 2. Especially, when he blatantly ignored her lady’s questions.

“Aren’t you going to answer her question?” she said reproachingly.

However, to her surprise, she noticed that Derek Zenith, Lily Violet, Aubrey Crysalia, Kyle Quincy, and Edgar Crow all simultaneously winced and shook their heads the moment she opened her mouth.

What? What did I do wrong? She was confused. All she did was put an arrogant Tier 2 in his place. She had hoped that if anything, they would appreciate her efforts.

She was about to ask Aubrey who was closest to her what the look was for, but she didn’t have time.

A looming dread filled the air that filled her with unease. A few seconds of stark silence later she watched as the Tier 2 with an inflated sense of self-importance slowly turned his head around to look right at her.

“What did you say?” He asked very softly. Although his tone was gentle, she couldn’t help but feel goosebumps run up and down her body.

His eyes were blazing with anger. It was almost scary if not for the fact that he was a Tier 2. It was as terrifying as a kitten baring its fangs at her.

She finally confronted the young brash child, something she had wanted to do the entire night, but had stopped herself. “You have been a proud and haughty brat for the entire short time that I have known you. You should be grateful that such esteemed people would put up with your arrogant attitude. You must’ve forgotten that you are nothing more than a weak Tier 2. Perhaps being accepted in Goldencrest inflated your ego, but remember that just because you are a little talented, doesn’t mean you are on the same level as us. You better keep your attitude in check,” she reminded him.

He laughed. “I better keep my attitude in check, huh,” he mocked her with a chuckle, but there was no humor in it. No, it was thinly veiled rage.

“And what will you do if I don’t?” He asked her daringly.

It seems like he still doesn’t understand, she thought to herself amusingly.

“If you don’t, then I will do it for you,” she promised him.

“Oh, is that so?” He asked. This time she did hear a little bit of humor, almost like he genuinely found that funny.

He might believe she was just posturing, but she really would. He better not push her.

“Yes, yes I would,” she told him while staring directly into his eyes which had now calmed down but were somehow more unnerving.

“I would like to see you try,” he goaded her with a smug smirk.

Okay, that’s it.

She didn’t want to be the person who bullied someone two full tiers below her, but he was asking for it. However, she also had to consider her status and the current role she was pretending to be. That meant she couldn’t show her full power. Even the powerful aura-hiding artifact the royal family had given her wouldn’t be able to hide her Tier if she went all out.

Not that it mattered, she wouldn’t need to even use a fraction of her power. He was most likely a recently advanced Tier 2 with a bloated sense of his own power. It would just take a small flick to humble him.

She slowly wrapped her aura around Julius with a smooth application of mana and squeezed. Imagining that she was constricting him like a snake. Was it perhaps too much, maybe? But he needed someone to teach him a lesson in humility.

However, she got increasingly alarmed when her aura got nowhere. It was like her aura was turned to dust the second it got near the boy. He must have a pretty good aura skill, she thought. Okay, so you do have some strength to back up your mouth, she admitted to herself.

She ramped up her aura and put the entire force of a newly advanced Tier 3’s aura onto him. However, she was shocked when nothing happened either. Just like the previous time, he was completely unaffected and unfazed.

He just stood there with that same smug smile and there was a challenging glint in his eyes. As if saying, is that all you got?

She was dumbfounded by the turn of events. How the hell is he holding up to my aura? His aura is unmistakably Tier 2, but the strength of it is not unlike the power of a Tier 3 soul, it doesn’t make sense, she thought to herself.

So she cranked it up even further, taking it to the level of an established Tier 3 user. It was only then did she gained even a single foothold against him. Still, her aura was torn apart by something.

It was probably some sort of item he must have had on his person. There was no other way for him to hold out against a full-powered Tier 3 aura.

She was very tempted to use her Authority on the still smug boy. He was using an item to hold her back and he had the shamelessness to act like it was his own achievement. However, she wouldn’t go that far. While the boy infuriated her to no end, she knew what her priorities were. She couldn’t easily unveil her identity just to bully a Tier 2.

Thankfully, it didn’t come to that as the young granddaughter of Count Violet intervened. “That is enough!”

Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed!