Path to Transcendence

He did his best not to gloat to Aubrey. While she had a habit of bragging about her victories, he didn't want to be the same as her. He would win with a bit more class.

That said, he still made sure she knew who had won. It was only a smile here and there, but he could tell that she was annoyed by it.

When they were eating dinner, he would slip in a smug grin and snicker when she stabbed her potatoes a little bit harder after that. He didn't take it too far, though. But with all of her teasing, he believed that this amount was fair game.

After they ate dinner, Derek pulled him to the side away from the others.

"What's up?" Julius asked curiously. The other boy rarely ever pulled him to the side. He would just say what he had to say in front of the others. So this was new.

"I wanted to talk to you about something I have been thinking about and something my family has brought up to me recently," Derek said hesitantly.

"About what?"

"About me forfeiting the match," Derek said with a frown.

Julius blinked slowly at what Derek was suggesting. "You want to forfeit?"

"Yes."

"Weren't you the ones who insisted that I join the tournament in the first place?"

"Yeah, but if we are being honest, the top sixteen is all you really need. The slot to the Luminous Empire Inter-School Tournament is the most important reward you can get from this tournament, especially for people like me and even you to some extent. I am sure that my parents or Lily's could get you anything the school could without too much effort," Derek said with a look where Lily and the others had walked off to.

"So what are you saying? That it doesn't matter who gets first place?" Julius asked with a tilt of his head.

"Not that it doesn't matter, but that the reward might not fit the cost," Derek said solemnly.

"What does that mean? What is the cost?" He was confused.

"The cost of revealing our skills to the public and other organizations. That is what my family is most worried about. They don't think that getting first place is worth risking people becoming aware of my skills. The whole tournament is kind of a trap in a way. Students often forget that the tournament is merely the preliminary of the main tournament," Derek explained.

"So you are saying that you are going to forfeit because you don't want to show your skills to everyone watching?" Julius clarified.

"Yes."

"Is this your wish or your family's?" Julius suddenly asked.

Derek faltered for a moment. "Honestly, it's a bit of both. I want to fight, but I also agree with my family. I've got to look at the bigger picture. If I want to have the best chance at placing well at the Intra-School Tournament, hiding my skills is a smart move. As the son of a Ducal House, a lot of eyes are on me, which means my opponents will try to learn about my skills beforehand."

Julius didn't like it but he agreed with Derek. The young scion attracted a lot of attention. Much more than Julius did even with his impressive run. Not only did most of the spectators want Derek to win and he was sure that other Houses were looking very closely at the guy's abilities.

Derek continued. "I don't think I will be able to do that and win when facing you. I don't even think I can win in the first place, despite the handicap you have when fighting with the bracelet. I don't know if you've realized this, but you are ridiculously strong."

"You don't want to fight just for the thrill of it?" Julius asked with a pout.

Derek shook his head and smirked at Julius. "I am not a battle junkie like you, Aubrey, or Edgar. I fight as a means to an end. You guys genuinely really love it, something I can't help but admire."

"What is it about the Inter-School Tournament that makes everyone want to win it rather than the school one? From what I can tell, the main differences are the rewards," he pointed out to Derek.

Derek shook his head firmly. "That is just one of them. I would argue that the experience matters more than some shiny prize, especially to people like me. The Sacred Realm that they use to test the participants is quite a unique place, and it isn't uncommon for people to gain far more in there than they would from the tournament rewards."

Julius frowned when he heard Derek's words. "Sacred Realm? What do you mean?"

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"You mean nobody has explained it to you?" Derek asked, sounding genuinely confused.

"Explain what?"

"You do know how the main tournament works, right?" Derek asked.

Julius shook his head. "I have no clue. I just know that a lot of strong students and Tier 3s are going to be there."

"Well, there are three main stages of the Inter-School Tournament. The first round is a general power test. It changes from year to year, but it is there to weed out some of the weaker participants. However, the second stage is the Sacred Realm stage. This is a special rift that the participants have to go into and finish a certain task or mission. The people who accomplish this task will then move on to the final stage, which is when participants will actually fight other participants."

"Okay, so what is so special about the Sacred Realm? Is it a unique rift?"

"It's not really even a rift. It's an old Realm established by someone very powerful. Many believe that it was made specifically for the younger generation to use to become stronger. It was well known that some of the treasures and opportunities inside can drastically change a person's path for the better. The only thing that prevents other families from sending in their stronger fighters to raid the place are the restrictions placed by the powerful being who created it."

"What are the restrictions?" Julius interrupted.

"First off, only Tier 3s can enter. That is the heaviest restriction, and nobody has been able to trick their way past that requirement. There are also multiple other protections that ensure that outside assistance is impossible."

Julius was intrigued—very intrigued. Opportunities to test himself were more attractive rewards to him than a shiny sword or some treasures.

"So you gain more from this realm than winning?"

"No, at least not normally. There are usually specific tasks given to the Tier 3s, and people can either complete them or roam the Realm in order to find a treasure. It isn't rare to see someone forget about the tournament and try to test their luck in the realm, looking for some inheritance treasure. This is doubly so for participants who don't think they have a good chance of placing highly. Of course, this also means people leave empty-handed, and since they don't finish the task, they get eliminated with nothing to show for their participation."

This was the first time Julius had heard about the tournament's actual structure. He had heard a lot about it ever since he arrived at Goldencrest, but nobody had explained to him how it was organized.

"Okay, I think I understand, but I still don't think you should forfeit," Julius said to him.

"Me either, but I think it might be my best choice."

Julius frowned and tried to figure out a way for Derek not to forfeit. He knew that the boy had been trying to win this tournament for the four years he had attended Goldencrest. Forfeiting right before he could achieve that made Julius's heart ache.

He didn't want that, which is why he thought up a plan.

"Okay, let's fight tomorrow. But we won't be going all out. One of us will surrender before we have to show our skills, how about that?"

"The crowd will know that we are holding back," Derek mentioned.

"Yeah, but that will be better than you forfeiting out of the blue. I can't imagine they will say very nice things about your House."

"No, they won't," Derek admitted with a sigh. "But my family already knows this and is fine with that."

"Well, let's just try my way. This way, we can avoid that. Is that fair?"

Derek frowned as if he was sensing something amiss, but nodded at Julius. "Yeah, that sounds fair."

***

When he watched Derek walk away, he couldn't prevent the grimace from appearing on his face. He had lied to Derek. Truthfully, he had no intention of showing up tomorrow, which would mean that Derek would take the win automatically.

But that was more than fine with Julius. He had already done way more than he had been planning to. Winning the tournament had never been his plan in the first place. He had done so because his friends wanted him to get the slot and because he wanted to experience some of the other students' skills.

He felt like he had accomplished that. He had fought a nice variety of students and had even reached second place. Not too shabby if he said so himself.

But the idea of Derek forfeiting and giving Julius the win did not sit well with him. Derek would gain far more from winning and lose far more from losing than Julius would from either. What Derek hadn't mentioned was that this idea of forfeiting went both ways. He also knew that Derek would never ask for Julius to forfeit. That is precisely why Julius decided to go this route.

He knew that Derek wouldn't agree if he knew what Julius was planning, which was why he lied. But that was the only way Julius could see Derek agreeing to show up. That way, Derek would be crowned the victor. People might insult Julius for being a coward and not showing up. However, that was much better than the alternative. He could handle that from the crowd, and he didn't care what they might think of him.

What he couldn't handle was if they talked that way about Derek. Not when the older boy had done so much for Julius already. It didn't sit right with him, and he was more than happy to let Derek take the win.

This was the best way and as much as he looked forward to the fight with Derek. He could always try and convince the other boy to fight another time. It wasn't like he was going anywhere.

The only thing he was worried about was Derek's reaction. Despite that, Julius would happily deal with Derek's ire if it meant the older boy got to win.

He also couldn't help but smile when he thought about what Derek had mentioned about the Inter-School Tournament. This so-called Sacred Realm sounded very interesting, and Julius's gut told him that he needed to enter this realm.

Who knew what he could gain from this realm? What if he could figure out a way to improve his Concepts or to somehow merge them? What if he acquired a way to evolve his soul again and gain another skill slot?

There were so many thrilling new possibilities that the tournament felt like a distant thought already. He bounced up and down with excitement as, for the first time in a while, he actually felt a true spark of interest flare up when he thought about the upcoming Inter-School Tournament.

In the meantime, this also meant that he could concentrate on something that he had been holding off on for the past week or so because of the timing of the tournament.

Gaining a Space Concept.