Path to Transcendence-Chapter 618: Ravenfoot Crossing

The rest of the trip was quiet. Almost too quiet. He half expected some kind of assassin to pop out of a tree and stab him. Even the creatures seemed to ignore them. It wasn’t even simple ignoring either. It was like the animals in the surrounding forest were being… nice to him.

He even had a small Tier 2 squirrel offer him some of its berries. It crawled down from its tree to place several plump-looking red berries on his pillow first thing in the morning. The animal was so weak and lacked any hostile intent that the enchantments around the campsite didn’t activate.

Julius made sure to thank the critter and even offered a few treats of his own, trading several chunks of a muffin he bought from a bakery before he left the capital. It seemed to enjoy it and happily took it as it scampered away.

Julius was currently munching on the rest of these berries as they approached the gate to Ravenfoot Crossing. They got more than a few surprised looks as they exited the forest. A large group of people was on the edge of the forest.

Julius spotted several large devices surrounded by a group of researchers taking notes on something. These researchers were protected by dozens of guards, all looking for anything leaving the forest.

Julius suspected these people were working on something. They were all carrying stuff inside and out of the treeline.

“Hold on there!” A loud voice politely called out to them as they stepped out of the trees and onto the paved pathway. It was a young guard wearing a set of robes underneath small bits of armor. He had a skinny and slightly curved sword at his waist, and he had his hands on the hilt of the sword.

Loreyn took the lead and headed straight for the tall guard who had spoken. “Hello there!” She said with a charming smile.

The man visibly relaxed and loosened his grip on his weapon when he saw Loreyn's cheery demeanor and walked over to them.

“Did you guys just exit the forest?” He asked with a worried smile, examining each member of their group’s party.

The guard was quite handsome, but he was also quite perceptive. Julius could feel the man’s senses brushing up against all of theirs with a demonstration of delicate skill. His gaze also lingered on Cassandra and Caldrus longer than the rest of them.

Loreyn nodded. “Yes, we did.”

“Are you guys from Ravenfoot, or are you coming from another town? We have been getting a lot of reports of attacks and missing people.”

“We came from Oakrest.”

“Did you take the main road?”

“We did, but then were forced to cut through the forest at some point,” she misled the man slightly, choosing to avoid telling him that they had willingly and purposefully chosen to do that.

“I’m sorry to hear that. Did you guys come across any other groups in the forest? As I said before, there are a lot of missing people, and I want to check off as many as I can.”

“No, we didn’t come across any.”

“Are you adventurers or some kind of traveling merchant, perhaps members of a sect?” The man was fishing for information, but was being nice about it, so it wasn’t too annoying.

“We are just trying to leave the Empire after the Tournament,” Loreyn explained.

The man's brow furrowed. “I heard about the attack in the Empire’s capital. I’m glad you are safe. I heard it got ugly.”

“Yeah, it was.”

The guard nodded sympathetically. “Do you guys need any medication attention? You guys seem capable enough if you can make it through the forest relatively untouched. But those two young ones seemed to have seen better days,” he said, glancing over at the haggard forms of Shin and Maya.

Loreyn looked at them and smiled softly. “We should be fine. They are more tired than injured. We took the opportunity to get them some training while we were at it. You know how it is.”

The guard smiled and nodded. “Indeed, I do. Is there anything else you might need? There’s a station up ahead if you want to clean up if you want.”

“I think we will take you up on that. Thank you,” Loreyn said with an appreciative bow.

The guard bowed slightly back and walked back to his station, leaving them be.

“I thought they would ask for identification,” Julius noted when they were alone.

“Me too,” Maya added.

“I think he noticed Cassandra and Caldrus,” Loreyn commented, affirming his own suspicions.

“Yes, he was quite sharp for his young age,” Cassandra noted.

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“You think he is aware of who we are, ma’am?”

“Maybe. But he seems to be the good sort; we shouldn’t worry about him spreading rumors,” Cassandra said with a satisfied nod.

They kept on walking, but Julius found himself staring off at the group of researchers. They were obviously looking for something, and he wondered if it had something to do with the rift he had gone into or if it was another reason entirely.

He was poked by Maya when he trailed behind.

“Come on, hurry up. I want to take a real warm shower,” she said impatiently and held her dirty and bloodstained hair at him.

Julius laughed and let himself get pulled along. He wasn’t as dirty, but he also would like a warm shower and some delicious food.

***

It was already quite late, and they decided to spend the night in the town. They made good time on their way here and could relax for the evening. After getting washed up, they all headed toward a really nice inn and got a room. It was a little hard to get a room for everyone, though. A lot of people were stuck here in Ravenfoot Crossing as they waited for the main road to open up again, so it was pretty busy.

On the bright side, the town was lively. They found themselves in the middle of a small party downstairs in the inn. Despite being tired and beat up, both Shin and Maya participated. They laughed and enjoyed themselves as songs and food flowed throughout the inn.

Julius was impressed by how well Shin danced. The other teen looked completely at home as he spun his way across the dance floor. Maya was pretty good herself.

As the night progressed and the noise calmed down, he found himself outside the inn, staring up at the stars. Feeling a little thirsty, he removed a mug from his storage ring as well as some milk. He used some fire mana to heat up the mug, being very careful about it. His flames had gotten so hot that it was hard not to scorch the milk.

Once the milk was steaming but not bubbling, he added in some whole chocolate bars, stirring it gently with a spoon made out of his mana. The milk turned a deep, rich walnut color. It was slightly thick from the melted chocolate, and he added a splash of cream at the end.

Once it was ready, he sipped on it and smiled as the warm sweetness and bitter cacao melted on his tongue.

He allowed himself to decompress and not worry about training for the next several hours. Drasil chose to come out and even sipped on a hot chocolate of his own. Of course, his drink had more life mana than chocolate, but it was the gesture that counted.

Drasil swung his feet from his shoulders as the two of them enjoyed the peaceful night. Eventually, even Seraphyne made an appearance. She got her own hot chocolate and slowly sipped on it as she lay across his lap.

The next day, they should be at the Burning Sun Sect, and it might be the last chance he would have at this kind of experience for a little while.

***

Julius found himself sitting down and getting a nice breakfast in the morning. He even had some time to get some practice in before the others were up for the day.

He was sitting in a park as he played with his mana. Fortunately, his life mana exercises have been coming along quite nicely. The inspiration he got while he was inside the rift was working out better than he expected.

His life mana was now both controlled and wild. Much like nature was. It relied heavily on his intent and willpower. But that was okay. That wasn’t something he was worried about lacking.

And so as he got into a comfortable groove, constantly playing around with his mana, he took out the beat-up book from Tezuko Willow. The book looked exactly the same as last time, but this time he was hoping that something had changed.

His ability to handle life mana had undergone massive changes, and he felt that he should be qualified for the second chapter at this point.

Thankfully, the manual seemed to think the same. He felt it latch onto him, grabbing hold of his mind and dragging him into its depths. He was a bit apprehensive, but ultimately allowed it. He couldn’t stop his curiosity from taking over.

The first thing he noticed upon arrival was that the scenery was different. They weren’t in a forest anymore. In fact, they couldn’t have been farther away from that. Instead of trees and lush greenery, there was nothing but barren rock and dirt for miles. The desolate area was lit only by the bright moon hovering above.

He spotted Tezuko Willow standing ten feet away from him, facing toward the moon.

“Took you less time than I anticipated.”

“You can tell the time inside here?” Julius asked curiously as he walked towards the man.

Tezuko turned around and laughed. “Yes, I installed a simple enchantment that would allow me to track who entered and when.”

Julius nodded distractedly, but that was because most of his attention was placed on what the man looked like. Just like the location they found themselves in, Tezuko had none of the vibrancy or life he previously had.

It was like the man was on the edge of death. His skin was pale white instead of the dark tanned color it had been before. His body was still muscular and powerful, but there was a feeling of death revolving around him. Even his eyes were different; they had previously been the most vibrant green. But now they were muddied, with a pitch-black ring around them.

“You look terrible,” Julius said bluntly.

Tezuko wheezed out a chuckle and held up his pale arm into the sky. “Yes, I suppose I do. I made a lot of mistakes when I first created my techniques. Especially early on. I focused on the wrong things, or perhaps it is more accurate to say I neglected the important things.”

“And you still want me to learn from you?” Julius asked with a deep frown.

“You can learn from my mistakes. It is why I made these manuals. I wanted someone to follow my path, but not follow my transgressions and flaws.”

“And what are those?”

“Unbalanced and power hungry,” the man said with a dangerous look.

“That’s all?”

Tezuko laughed. “Not even close. But for simplicity's sake, yes. Those are the key areas in which I failed.”

Julius sighed and nodded. He could respect a man who recognized his mistakes. “So what does that mean for me, and what does that mean for this second chapter?”

“The first chapter was just a primer. A test to ensure one’s control of life mana and willpower was sufficient. Overall, it’s not too dangerous.”

Julius almost laughed. A primer? Not dangerous? The man was clearly crazy, and Julius, despite his best efforts, couldn’t help but admire that.

“And the second?”

“The second chapter is where the real danger begins.”

“Oh, joy,” he said with a deadpan face.

Instead of being upset with his sarcasm, Tezuko grinned as if he was excited about something. Julius leaned away slightly. He knew crazy when he saw it, and the man they once called the Undying Revenant was definitely planning something. Still, his curiosity got the better of him.