Path to Transcendence

Julius, Reinera, and Cory quickly made their way through the tunnel.

Cory was of course the small boy they were escorting. He didn't talk much but he also didn't seem to be scared. He just sat in Reinera's arms kind of blankly, not moving and not really looking at anything either, only sometimes gazing at the lights Julius created.

It kind of worried Julius. He could understand a boy who was crying or a boy who was excited, but he didn't understand a boy who looked completely robotic. It was almost like the trauma of what he experienced totally overwhelmed his brain and shut it down.

Nothing that Reinera did seemed to help. So far, the only thing that boy seemed remotely interested in were the balls of light Julius created to light their way.

He had formed over a dozen little lights that lit up the entire tunnel. It turned their trip from a dark and kind of depressing atmosphere to one that seemed a little more cheery. At least they weren't traveling through the sewers.

The tunnel itself was dark, but it was at least pretty clean. Whoever managed it, must have done something to keep it neat.

As he did, he couldn't help but think about the last few days. And the more he thought about it, the harder it was for him to believe that the old man was being entirely truthful with him. The whole time he knew Elder Han, Julius felt like he was dancing in the old man's palm.

I shouldn't be worrying about this right now, he reminded himself.

Instead, he turned and observed Cory quietly watching the soft orbs of light with a concentrated gaze. Figuring that he had nothing to lose, he walked up to Cory slowly.

The boy didn't pay him any mind, unsurprisingly.

Julius took his time to create something a little more complex than his normal constructs. He was going back to his days when he would practice by making constructed soldier figurines. However, his skills compared to then were night and day.

He carefully molded his mana, using everything he had learned up till now. Using the softened properties of mana, he was able to create much more delicate joints for the figurine. Even making use of a tiny needle of sharpened mana to carve out the small details of the face of the soldier.

He still wasn't an artist, but it was already looking so much better than his attempts before.

He gave the soldier a sword to hold, though he made the mistake of making it just like a real sword the first time around. That meant that it was really sharp and much too dangerous for a simple toy, so he had to fix it, making sure the sword couldn't cut through stone.

That probably wouldn't be the best thing to hand over to an emotionally traumatized kid.

After some finishing touches he was finally done. The soldier was complete and looked pretty nice if he said so himself. He had even included clothing that had similar properties to cloth, which meant whenever the soldier moved, its cape would flap a little bit.

It was completely unnecessary and nobody would really care, but he thought it would be a nice touch.

He had been so focused on creating it, that he didn't realize that Cory had stopped looking at the light orbs and was completely entranced by his actions. Unlike the lights, there was a glimmer of excitement in Cory's eyes as he stared at the figurine.

Julius extended his arm that was holding the soldier to Cory, offering it to the little boy. However, instead of taking it from his hands, Cory just continued to stare at it.

He had to physically tuck the construct into Cory's arms before the boy finally reached out to touch it.

However, all of his efforts were rewarded because the boy's blank expression gradually turned into one of wonder and awe. Cory handled the figurine like it was made of glass not knowing that Julius made it so that it would be able to handle almost any Tier 3 attack. He had even infused some Concepts into it, knowing full well that it was overboard but wanted to do so anyway.

Reinera turned and gave him a knowing smile, winking at him as the boy in her arms smiled for the first time.

That wasn't all Julius had for the boy either. He gently took control of the construct and had it move its arm into a salute, putting the joints he had carefully made to good use.

This small action shocked the boy and he let out an involuntary giggle as he watched the figurine go through a number of dramatic and funny poses.

And that was how their adventure through the tunnel and sneaking out of Stonewall went. Two young people smiling as they watched a little boy giggle in joy.

***

"Are you Julius and Grace?" The man asked.

Julius and company had come out of the tunnel just outside of the walls of the town. They ended up having to wait for a little bit until their escort came, but he eventually showed up exactly where Elder Han told them he would be.

"That's us," Julius nodded. "Are you our ride to Blumand?"

"Yep, that's me. I'm here to take the little one back to his family in Blumand," he said while giving the little guy a small wave and a large smile. However, Cory was still completely immersed in the figuring still and didn't pay the new man any attention.

The man looked a little sad at being ignored but quickly regained his smile. "Han told me you two were just hitching a ride, correct?"

"Yeah, I hope you don't mind," he said politely.

"Not at all, the more the merrier. Come on, follow me. The carriage is just over there," the man pointed over the ridge. "The name's Danny by the way."

"Nice to meet you, Danny, I'm Julius, but you already knew that," he said with a laugh while following Danny. Reinera and Cory were right behind him, Cory still poking the figurine back as Julius controlled it to give the kid small teasing jabs with its dull sword.

When he eventually saw the carriage he was pretty impressed. It was a sleek emerald green carriage that was being pulled by a single creature. The creature itself was an interesting mix between a horse and a cheetah. It's muscles were lean and there wasn't an ounce of fat on it. The creature looked like it was bred for speed.

The carriage itself didn't have any wheels. Like many of the carriages he had seen in Heston, it was held up in the air by wind magic. The only difference was that, unlike those carriages, this one was being drawn by an actual creature.

The inside might have been an even more surprise than the outside. There must have been some sort of spatial enchantment that enlarged the space inside because it was at least twice as large as it looked from the outside.

Not only that but there were some extremely comfortable chairs lined up along the walls.

"This is a very nice carriage," Julius said genuinely impressed.

"I know right?! I saved up for a while to get this. I used to have this old carriage, but it was nothing like this one," Danny said proudly.

"I'd say it was worth it," Julius agreed with him.

Danny nodded emphatically. "I wish my wife thought the same. She thinks it was a waste of money and said that it would have been better to spend the money on something practical. But she just doesn't understand a man's desires," he said while clenching one fist in the air dramatically.

Julius laughed goodnaturedly and continued to make small talk with the man. Finding out small things about Blumand and the region as he did.

***

The carriage was not only nice, but it was fast. The creature he found out was a monster known as a Phantom Colt. Or as Danny liked to call him, Colton.

Colton's species didn't get the name phantom because it could turn invisible or had any properties of a ghost. No, it was purely because of how fast their species were. When they ran at full speed those at lower tiers would only see an afterimage of the beast.

Colton was a genuine Tier 4 monster which was worth more than the carriage itself. It was only because Danny had a good friend who bred them for a living that he was able to get Colton as a calf for practically free.

Colton wasn't the only strong one either. Just looking at his aura at a glance, it seemed that Danny was just another Tier 3. However, upon closer examination now that they were in a carriage together, he realized that wasn't the case.

Danny must have had pretty good training or item because his aura control was phenomenal. There was no way he wasn't at least Tier 4. In fact, Julius wouldn't be surprised to learn that he was Tier 5, though he doubted that.

He didn't try to ask either, as that was considered quite rude to do. It also wasn't that important for Julius to know. It wouldn't change much at all.

Despite that they were going really fast across the plains, Julius could barely feel a thing within the carriage. He would dare to say that it was even smoother than riding in a vehicle from his old world.

On top of that, it was much faster than if the two of them had tried to travel by themselves. He was glad that Elder Han had offered a ride much more now that he was experiencing the benefits.

It took them about half the day before they reached their destination. The sun was still just above the sky and he could see the city approaching in the distance. There were tall walls surrounding the city just as Stonewall did, but unlike the smaller town, these walls were quite impressive.

It was less the size of the walls and more of the mana he felt radiating from the stone enchantments. He could practically feel them glowing from the carriage. He could tell that Reinera felt the same thing as well. Her eyes were glued to the walls just like his were.

Blumand was apparently one of the larger cities within the northeastern region. Which made sense considering its importance to the region.

They had to slow down as small villages were placed around the city, much like how Heston had some. However, unlike Heston, these villages were not as nice as the ones there.

They were noticeably less pristine, but it wasn't in a bad way. It was more like a realistic view of how a village would actually look. Heston had always felt a little bit like fairyland. The city had always seemed too nice and too clean to be considered normal.

Thus, in many ways, seeing a city and villages like this was like a breath of fresh air.

Their carriage gained a good amount of attention from the people. The emerald green carriage was quite stylish and Danny was smiling as he basked in the attention, proud of his ride.

It wasn't like they were the only fancy carriages though. As they got closer to the city, they saw an increasingly larger amount of carriages. Among those were some really nice ones too. They must have belonged to nobles or some other rich families.

Although, Danny's stood out because he was one of the few people who actually had a monster attached to the front.

Eventually, they got to the city gates without issue. After waiting for their turn to be inspected, Danny passed over what looked to be some kind of license or permit and was allowed through without many questions.

When they entered, Julius took the time to admire the city. Blumand wasn't quite like Heston, but it certainly held its own unique charm. Tasteful architecture and relatively clean stone streets gave him a good impression of the city right away.

Furthermore, there were a lot of people out and about, shopping or spending their day outside. All of whom seemed pretty happy, at least on the surface.

Danny took them down several roads and ultimately ended up at his place. Danny made sure that Colton was settled in the barn that was on the property and welcomed them inside to rest.

At first, they were hesitant to stay, as they were planning to check out the city before it got too dark. However, Danny's next words convinced them quite quickly.

"Angela is making some of her famous stew, she would be very upset if I didn't invite you all to try it."

Hearing that there was food involved, both Julius and Reinera immediately accepted, which prompted Danny to laugh. The two of them swiftly followed Danny, Reinera still carrying the distracted Cory in her arms.

Julius had to wipe the saliva from his mouth as he imagined a nice hearty stew filling his tummy, it had been a weird few days and he could use a comforting meal.