Chapter 321 - Vice Guildmaster

Kiera POV

If there was one thing Kiera was confident about, it was her ability to find special individuals. She had this weird knack that allowed her to know who was strong. It didn't matter if they shrouded their aura, but she could tell if someone was dangerous.

This had helped her during her years of adventuring, and even more so now that she was scouting for young talents and interacting with various people.

However, when she saw the young black-haired boy down on the field brutalize the young Silum scion, she couldn't help but doubt her initial valuation. House Silum was a small House and only held the title of Lord, but they had a unique reputation for being extremely loyal, courageous, and skilled warriors. They weren't just a lazy noble House. No, they earned their title with pure martial strength.

Darren Silum definitely had the skilled part down, though she didn't know him personally to judge his other characteristics. His ability to wield such a large axe to fend off a faster and stronger opponent was praiseworthy.

It didn't matter if he wasn't able to get a slot, she doubted the boy would be lacking invitations to join many organizations or guilds. His abilities as a tank would be very welcome to any team he was on. That taunting skill, in particular, was very interesting and well-controlled.

Still, Julius handled him much more easily than she could have expected. That last attack had been quite the surprise. She doubted she would have been able to take that attack head-on without some measure of precaution. There had to be some kind of drawback to such a potent attack.

That said, this could not have been better for her case of why she wanted him to join their guild.

"See? What did I tell you?" She said with a nod toward where Julius was walking off. Looking toward her Vice Guildmaster with a proud grin on her face.

She knew that she had felt something special about the boy when she saw his fight against Bethany Jacobs. This only further cemented that feeling.

"I never said I doubted you," Vice Guildmaster Ronin replied to her as he leaned back in his seat with an odd glint in his eyes, similarly staring down at the boy walking off the stage.

"No, but you didn't say you believed me either," Kiera pointed out quietly, not wanting to come off as too insolent in front of Tier 5. While Ronin was quite famous for his patience and kindness when dealing with everyone, she had seen the man's tolerance break before.

It wasn't pretty, and the person who caused it was no longer among the land of the living, which is why she was always mindful of how much she toed the line, no matter how nice he came across.

"You know I can't just believe you without having seen the boy myself," Ronin said with his trademark grin.

Luckily, she could hear him because he had set up a sound barrier, which allowed them to talk to each other without having to yell over the crowd's screams.

After she had extended the invitation to the Stormcallers Guild to Julius, she had immediately told Ronin. The man had seemed very skeptical of her opinion and didn't really entertain her idea until it was known that Julius was going to be fighting for a top sixteen slot.

Most people in Heston didn't quite understand the significance of such an achievement. For them, it was simply the annual tournament that Goldencrest set up every year for the city to enjoy. They didn't really care for many of the student's names or the other delicate aspects of the event, they were there because it was something fun to watch and experience.

However, for people like her and others who scouted young talents, the top sixteen were quite literally the cream of the crop. Unfortunately, most of the time, the students were from noble families who had trained their children from a young age.

Goldencrest was a renowned noble school for a good reason. Few commoners emerged from the school as powerful fighters. There were plenty of other schools or sects that cultivated these talents.

Thus, spotting a person like Julius was quite a spectacular find. He was a commoner who managed to make his way all the way through to the top sixteen. Despite this being an already impressive accomplishment, he had done it in his first year.

Something that didn't happen all that often in the broader scope of the Empire. Especially not at Goldencrest. Sure, there were young talents who managed to get high placements at the Interschool Tournament hosted at the Capital, but she couldn't exactly remember when the last one came from Goldencrest.

"So, should we try to get him to join us?" She asked.

Her Vice-Guildmaster chuckled at her for some reason and didn't say anything in return.

"What? Did I say something dumb?" She asked confusedly.

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"I don't think he's going to be joining us," Ronin said with a lot of confidence.

"Why not? We are one of the strongest guilds in Heston. How many guilds or organizations can say that they have a Tier 6 in charge?"

"Did you investigate the boy after you met him?"

"Yes, I managed to get his profile from the school. He has high affinities for fire and kinetic. I also found out that he was sponsored by Declan Griffin, who is one of the Vice-Captains of the city guards."

"So you haven't looked in on who his friends are?"

She frowned and shook her head.

He nodded at her like it was expected. "Well, if you did, you would have learned that he is apparently good friends with Derek Zenith and Lily Violet. He was also involved in a situation pertaining to the missing princess and is friends with her as well."

She opened her mouth to respond, but nothing came out. She visibly deflated and didn't know what to say. She knew why Ronin was so confident. Why would Julius choose them when he had those options? The fact that he was involved with so many affluent families was shocking, especially considering his own status as a commoner. He could not have found a more powerful group to back himself.

"You knew," she finally said with a sigh. "Why did you make it seem like you didn't know who the boy was when I asked you to come watch?"

"You really think I am not going to listen to your recommendations? I know to trust your opinion, but I wanted to investigate the boy more closely. Which is why I found that piece of information."

She pouted. "Well, I guess that option goes there."

He turned to look at her in confusion. "Who said just because he can't join our guild means we can't foster a relationship with him?"

"What are you trying to say?"

He shrugged. "I don't know yet, but after seeing this fight, I feel like I have gotten a good enough look at what drives him. I think there are some things we have to offer him that might be very appealing."

Julius POV

He was embarrassed. He should never have allowed himself to lose himself in that taunting skill. It was much more effective than he had originally suspected. Since it hadn't been all that potent with his protections, he thought that he could handle the effects better.

Unfortunately, he was very mistaken. The moment he let the taunting skill have its way, it completely enveloped him, and he could immediately tell that his behavior had changed. There was nothing he could do, as the taunting skill made him act in such an erratic manner.

All he had been able to think about was slugging it out with the warrior across from him. There had been no control over his actions as he allowed himself to fall deep into the taunting skill.

He firmly believed that the skill was so effective because he secretly enjoyed that kind of fighting. With that being said, he regretted that he felt the need to test out that particular skill in front of such a large crowd.

He couldn't imagine what some of the spectators must be thinking of him. They must be…

Huh, he stopped himself before he could continue.

When did he start to care about what other people thought of him? He was the same person who pretended to be mentally slow for a good portion of his childhood.

He reminded himself that he didn't need to burden himself with trying to make people like him. He should do what he wanted to do. And no matter how embarrassed he felt, at the end of the day, he did have a lot of fun. Probably the most fun he had since the start of the tournament.

His opponent activated a powerful berserk skill, which enabled him to keep up with Julius somewhat. Considering that Julius wasn't holding back much, this was an impressive feat.

Still, he couldn't help but feel a little bad for his opponent. He looked over where he had blasted the guy into the barrier with a wince. He hadn't held back with that last attack at all. If it wasn't for the protective enchantments, the other boy would have died.

He didn't even feel upset over the other boy's earlier words. Now that he had a good sense for the taunting skill, Julius was starting to believe that the words were simply triggers that would have allowed the skill to slip into his own aura more easily.

As he was walking away with his head down. He couldn't help but notice that the crowd was hushed and tilted his head upward.

They stared down at the stadium with stunned expressions. Even the children hanging off the bleachers were quiet for once.

However, just as he thought the silence would persist until he left the field, a soft rumbling came from the crowd. That rumbling slowly turned into a roar, and before he knew it, the entire crowd was off their feet, clapping their hands and screaming his name into the air.

When the deafening cheers hit him, Julius couldn't help but put his head down again in embarrassment, but this time, it was for slightly different reasons.

On the bright side, he felt like he had learned something very nice about the other guy's aura and taunting skill. The way he was able to select how his skill targeted enemies intentionally was something Julius believed he could replicate with some practice.

This was big news because he wanted to learn how to use his aura without it trying to kill everyone around him.

He had gotten better, but he still wasn't sure of his control in a chaotic environment. It wasn't like he could afford to make a mistake, either. His aura was much too volatile to take that risk. If he messed up, he could kill someone unprepared or not strong enough to handle his aura.

However, his opponent seemed to use a filtering method to differentiate auras. From what he observed, his opponent's aura established some kind of tag or connection with the object or person it wanted to affect.

Of course, it was much more complicated than that, but that was the general sense he got from the skill. His main problem now was to find a way to implement this method and test things out when he had time.

He had a feeling that Lily would be a big help with this, and she would probably be more than happy to do so. She was down for anything that involved aura. He would just need to offer her some treats in return for her services.

But he already had that covered. He had learned from the best, and hopefully, he still had a healthy supply of some of the finest treats he could find around Heston. It would be even better if some of them were her favorites.

So, with a plan and things to test on his mind, he excitedly strolled out of the stadium while pulling a hood over his face, hiding the blooming smile on his face.