Path to Transcendence

It surprisingly wasn't difficult at all to get a skill. In all honesty, it was very disappointing.

The monsters weren't even that strong. Even the leader, who was the only one Julius was able to sense a Concept from, was not very extraordinary. It was about the same level as the scaled monster he beat down earlier.

He was able to walk up to the pack of monsters and use his kinetic energy to immobilize each one of them.

The only one who showed the slightest bit of fight was the leader but was just because of their Concept more than their willpower.

Julius was able to overpower its Concept with help from his Emblem, something he was figuring out was something that he could channel in order to get a leg up against other people with Concepts.

He was beginning to understand why the Patriarch had told him he would have a massive advantage over other Tier 3s who had not already gained an Emblem of their own.

While it was disappointing that he didn't have to work harder to get a skill or that it wasn't some sort of dramatic notification, he was still happy that he was offered it.

Furthermore, if he was being logical about it, it was probably so easy because he had already done most of the legwork in the earlier months.

It was just now that his soul had some space that he was being offered it.

Speaking of that notification, he pulled it up once he dealt with the last of the monsters.

Would you like to learn the skill [Kinetic Restriction]?

It was the exact skill he had been expecting to learn. But it also made his decision harder to make.

[Aura Burn] or [Kinetic Restriction], what should he choose?

He really liked the effects of [Aura Burn]. But he also liked [Kinetic Restriction] though.

Decisions decisions…

He ultimately decided to sleep on it. It might be a good idea to ask Richard for his opinion. He has been very helpful so far and open regarding his own skills. Perhaps, he might have some advice for him.

In the meantime, he believed he had accomplished all that he needed to for the day. It was time to head back toward the portal.

He and Reinera had some plans to head into the city later for food and she wouldn't appreciate it if he was late for it.

***

When he came out of the rift he was greeted by Richard. However, could have sworn he saw the man give him an odd look. But if it was there, it was gone so fast he didn't know if it really was there or if he was imagining it.

"How was it?" Richard called out.

"It was fruitful," he answered honestly.

"You get anything useful?"

Julius hesitated for a moment before he answered. "I got a skill offered," he eventually said.

"Was it a fire skill?" Richard asked with a knowing smile.

Not even surprised that the man guessed that he nodded his head. "Do you have a guess on what kind of skill I got?"

"You did mention getting your body skill some sort of secondary effect and most people end up getting a burn effect at first. I suspect that you have something along those lines."

Julius blew out his lips. "You're no fun," he said.

Richard smiled brightly. "So what skill did you get?"

"[Aura Burn]," he revealed easily.

He cocked his head to the side. "Interesting. I'm guessing that the skill burns the aura of your opponent?"

"You would be correct."

"That sounds potentially very powerful, though it might have a lower initial power."

Julius shook his head at him. "Actually, it's pretty powerful already. It incapacitated a Tier 3 with its own Concept pretty easily."

"It incapacitated a Tier 3 with a Concept? That's not something that is easy to do," Richard said with a weird glint in his eyes.

"What?" He asked, wondering what the man was thinking behind those expressive eyes. Your journey continues at empire

"I think it might be a wonderful addition to your skills," the man said to him, clapping his hands together excitedly.

"Yeah, but I also have another skill that I want to get as well," Julius added.

"Something that sounds better than [Aura Burn]?"

"Oh yeah, it's a cool skill for sure. But I don't know if it's practical."

"What kind of skill is it?" Richard asked curiously.

"It's a movement reduction skill for my kinetic affinity."

Richard clapped his hands together again. "That sounds good too!"

"I know, I don't know which one I want to decide on first."

"And you have all of your slots full already, right?"

"Yep, I have one left until I combine my body skills or get another slot."

Richard frowned in thought as the man tried to think of an answer for him.

"I think it would be a good decision to get [Aura Burn], it probably has a high chance of combining with [Thermal Empowerment] because of the circumstances of how you got offered it."

"You really think so?"

The man nodded. "Here, try the two techniques on me first. I will let you know what I think," he offered.

Julius hesitated for a moment. "Are you sure?"

"Absolutely, I want to see what kind of skills we are dealing with before you decide!"

He gave Richard one last look, but the man seemed very insistent so with a bated breath he used his kinetic restriction technique on him.

He clamped all of the surrounding kinetic energy around the Tier 5 and suffused his willpower with his Will Concept in order to give it extra oomph.

Richard allowed Julius to do so and didn't fight back against it even though he could have easily done so. It seemed like he was just trying to get a feeling on Julius skill on its own.

Still, a look of surprise flashed across Richard's face. Because he hadn't tried to fight against it, Julius was able to completely immobilize him. The man wasn't able to move a single finger.

Richard stayed like this for a few moments before giving a surge of his own will and easily gained control back of his body.

"That makes things harder," Richard muttered.

"Why?" He asked anxiously.

"Let me see the other technique first," he said to Julius.

With a brief look toward the man, Julius did as he requested. He walked up to the man with his [Thermal Empowerment] active and pushed a finger infused with his Phoenix Concept, maintaining his intent on burning the man in front of him.

Just like how it did with the two-headed bear and the scaled monster before, he felt his flames melt into Richard's aura with swift intensity.

However, unlike the monsters, the man in front of him had an aura that was like a steel mountain. He was barely affected by the flames and the effect was snuffed out in an instant.

Well, that didn't work as well as [Kinetic Restriction], he noted.

"I think you should still get [Aura Burn]," Richard said suddenly.

Julius jerked his head toward the man. "What? It seemed like it didn't work as well on you though."

"Of course not, it was an uncommon skill whereas the kinetic skill is most likely a rare skill already. The two skills are obviously going to be different in terms of current power. However, since it's uncommon, [Aura Burn] will have a better chance of merging with your uncommon body skill. It's also very powerful on top of it."

"But you handled it easier," he said with a cocked head. He wasn't that surprised to learn that his kinetic skill was rare, it was something he had been practicing for a while now.

"Not really. I wasn't able to stop its effects completely. It was only because of how large my aura is that I didn't receive much damage, but it seems like that burning effect doesn't lean on your mana consumption like other burning skills," Richard commented.

"What does it lean on then?"

Richard grinned widely. "Your willpower."

"My willpower?"

"Yes, which is exactly why I think it would be a good decision to get the skill."

"Doesn't my other technique use my willpower as well?" He asked.

Richard nodded. "Yes, but almost every skill uses one's willpower in some aspect. That movement restriction technique seemed to rely on your manipulation of kinetic energy just as much as your willpower. Your aura-burning skill on the other hand was primarily reliant on the strength of your willpower, with it only needing some mana manipulation in order to connect with your opponents."

"And that means…?"

The man shook his head humorously. "It means you can use your alarmingly strong willpower to much better effect while also having a higher chance of combining it with your fire enhancement skill."

"Plus, you seem to use the restriction technique pretty well on its own so far," Richard added.

Julius took in what the man explained to him. Everything made sense to him and he believed that Richard made a very good point.

"Okay, I think I am going to choose [Aura Burn] and hope that it will combine with [Thermal Empowerment]."

"I believe that is the best choice, but the decision is up to you," Richard assured him.

Julius nodded gratefully at him and pulled up the notification.

Would you like to learn the skill [Aura Burn]?

Julius firmly accepted the notification.

Congratulations, you have learned the skill [Aura Burn] (Uncommon).

"I got it," he told Richard.

"Congratulations, I don't think you will regret choosing it."

"I hope not," he said, not sounding as confident as the older man did.

"You want to try it out on me?" Richard offered.

Julius shrugged his shoulders. "Sure, why not."

***

The two of them had decided to try it out by actually sparring. This meant they ended up going to their usual spot by the obstacle course. The course, that Julius still hasn't been able to complete by the way.

He made sure to give his usual angry fist shake at wooden beams as he passed by them, ignoring Richard's laughter from behind.

"What do you want to do?" Julius asked.

"Just come at me. Get a feeling of using your new skill with [Thermal Empowerment], I wouldn't be surprised if something changed now that you have an official skill."

He didn't need to be asked twice. He was curious about what kind of changes occurred and blitzed out toward the older man covered in flame red aura, still not using [Kinetic Augmentation].

Richard, like usual, danced around and outskilled him with grace. However, he also purposefully left more openings for Julius to go for than he has in the past.

Julius didn't shy away from this either. He eagerly took them and connected with a strong strike with [Aura Burn].

The effect was quite surprising. It immediately felt more natural, he barely needed to concentrate. The infusion that he had been doing with his Phoenix Concept, didn't seem to be as necessary.

The process happened all on its own and the injection of his fire mana seemed to go deeper into Richard's aura.

Although the older man's aura was more prepared than the last time he tested out the skill, Julius was able to feel the burning effect more pronounced. He also could feel that he could use this effect even without physically touching his opponent.

He believed as long as his aura was touching his opponent, he would be able to use this effect in some capacity.

He couldn't help but smile as he was aware of a notification signaling another level increase.n/o/vel/b//in dot c//om

That didn't take that long, he thought to himself with a joyful grin.