Chapter 617: Favor

Julius barely got a chance to say goodbye to the family of birds. Her father had dragged her away before long, saying her mother was waiting for them.As for Julius, he continued his way towards the others. They weren’t far away, but there was still a stretch of forest ahead of him. He was even warned that there were several territories of powerful monsters between him and the edge of the forest.

He actually came across one of them. His spatial senses picked up on a strong presence watching him as he made his way through the forest. It wasn’t as strong as the Tier 5 bird, but it was definitely Tier 5. It wasn’t even bothering to hide either. It stared at him from a distance, watching as he flew over the tree tops.

He didn’t bother to hide his aura. He let it proudly show itself; his intentions were clear as day. He wasn’t looking for a fight, but he was more than ready if it decided to attack him. He was ready for it to make a sudden move, but it must have decided that it wasn’t worth it and let him pass by unhindered.

That, or the monster sensed the mark he just received. He knew he was told that it would deter monsters from being too aggressive, but he couldn’t be sure of that. Not all monsters were of sound mind, and he doubted all of them could sense the marking right away.

Still, he was both a little relieved and disappointed about not getting into a fight. One of his goals was to beat a Tier 5 as a Tier 4. He hadn’t been able to do that as a Tier 3, but with his upgrades and given enough time to adapt to his advancement, he felt confident that it was more than possible.

It didn’t take him much more time to reach the others. Unsurprisingly, Cassandra was the first to greet him. She waved to him the moment he got within eyesight. He was barely able to see her.

When he landed, he was greeted by a sorry sight. Shin and Maya were half dead. In fact, he actually wasn’t sure if they hadn't departed the land of the living. They were both lying on the ground ass up and covered in countless wounds.

Several used potions were on the ground, empty of any liquid. He was only certain they were indeed alive when he got closer and saw their chests moving slightly.

“What happened to them?” He asked, looking over at Caldrus and Loreyn. The latter was cooking dinner over a fire off to the side while the old man was sipping a glass of tea, acting as if Shin and Maya weren’t there.

Cassandra smiled for some reason. “They just got done fighting and need a breather.”

“What did they fight?”

“They fought a Tier 4 monster and actually managed to kill this one,” Cassandra said proudly, which was higher praise than Julius expected from the woman.

“Really? Congratulations are in order then.”

“Right? I thought so too, which is why I am rewarding them with a nice meal instead of those shitty rations they bought.” She shook her head at their prone forms. “I still can’t believe they actually bought rations instead of actual food.”

“It’s not like I know how to cook,” Shin mumbled tiredly, his voice muffled by the dirt.

“I was told that I shouldn’t step foot into a kitchen again by the sect’s chefs,” Maya added, flipping her body over to look up at the sky.

“That bad?” Julius asked.

Shin grunted. “Yep. The last thing she made gave me such bad food poisoning that a Tier 5 healer had to heal me.”

Julius hummed.

“Anything else I miss?”

“Yeah, a Tier 5 tried to attack us,” Maya said.

“And?”

“Cassandra took care of it,” Maya explained simply, as if that was enough of an explanation. Which, to be honest, probably was.

Julius looked over to the woman in question.

“I didn’t kill it, if that’s what you were asking. I just gave it a little warning, and it backed off,” Cassandra said with a shrug, but then looked over at him with a weird look.

“What about you? You get something good out of the rift?”

Julius shrugged, and, seeing no reason not to trust her, he removed the trial key from his storage ring and handed it to her.

She took it from him and remained silent as she examined it, a puzzled expression on her face. After a few moments of her turning it around in her hands, he suddenly felt a barrier appear, isolating the others from the two of them. It was extremely subtle, and he had a feeling he sensed it only because she wanted him to.

He didn’t think anyone noticed. Shin and Maya were back on the ground, trying to recover their breath. Caldrus might have noticed, but the old man clearly didn’t care enough to look over at them, he kept on sipping his tea like nothing was wrong.

“What was the name of this item?” She asked him, acting more serious than he was prepared for.

He tilted his head and took a few moments to gather his thoughts. “It was called a Trial Key. Why? Is there something wrong with it?”

She shook her head and handed it back to him with a weird look. “Nothing wrong with it, but make sure you keep it safe. I’m not sure what the requirements are for it, but it can be a very valuable item for you.”

“What is it? Do you know what a Trial Key is?”

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

“Trial Keys are unique rewards from a rift. Usually from difficult ones. I am a little surprised that you got one from that rift. I didn’t detect any unusual activity from it. The concentration of mana wasn’t too high either. I would have graded it as a C-ranked rift.”

Julius shrugged. “There was a little anomaly that occurred inside. Perhaps that was the reason.”

“Anomaly?” She asked, looking at him intensely.

“Yeah, something about corruption infecting the rift.”

He didn't even see her move. She was instantly in his face and examining him with her hands. "So that's what I was sensing from you. So the rift was being corrupted? Are you sure?”"

“Yeah, pretty sure. Why? Is that a bad thing?” He asked as she smushed his cheeks together.

She dropped her hands, seemingly content that he was okay.

“Uncommon, not really. Bad? Sort of. In the dimensional plane where rifts are created, there are other gateways or means of entering them. The portal you went through was simply the only one you were able to see and interact with. However, these other gateways can allow foreign entities or monsters to enter these rifts and influence them. Corruption is relatively common, but it might also be a hint of what is happening to the forest as a whole. I don’t want to make any hasty conclusions, but it could be why there is an increased number of monsters flowing out of the forest and into the surrounding towns.”

“Is there anything we can do?”

She smiled and placed a hand on his shoulder. “Not really. Even for me, there is a limit to how much I can do on my own. This issue will take hundreds of people organizing groups and exploring rifts. I’m sure that they already have a better idea of what is going on than we do. Plus, I doubt they would accept help from a foreign Tier 6 and from a young man who supposedly died.” She said the last part, giving him a pointed look.

“I understand,” he said with a soft nod. But just because he understood didn’t mean he liked it.

“Okay, so what’s the key for?” He changed the topic back to what they were originally talking about.

Cassandra lifted the key to her eyes. “The key can be for several different things. The most common thing people receive is a key that can open a special rift. This rift has been specifically catered to the person’s needs. But there could be other things as well. I heard of a person getting a Trial Key that teleported them across the continent because their ‘trial’ was to find their missing family. It all depends,” she explained.

“But I can’t just use it whenever I want? I have to wait until I fulfill these unknown requirements?”

She nodded. “Unfortunately, yes.”

“That sucks.”

She rolled her eyes. “Just be grateful you got something good. With your abilities, I doubt there are many things that could impress you anyway.”’

Julius nodded, agreeing with her statement.

“I did get a treasure that increased my life affinity. Are treasures like that rare?” He added casually, hopefully she would be able to clarify whether he could get another one of these treasures for his other affinities.

She stared at him with a blank expression. “Are you serious?”

He frowned. “Yes?” He wondered what that reaction was for.

“That’s an unbelievable treasure to get. Do you know how far people would go to get a system-curated reward that increases one’s affinity to perfect?”

He laughed lightly. “No, no no. It only increased it to excellent, not perfect. I wish, though. That would be nice. Some of my friends have perfect affinities, and I have always been jealous.”

“Wait, so you’re saying you only had a high affinity before this?”

He nodded steadily. “Yep.”

She chuckled sardonically and slapped her leg as if she had just heard a funny joke.

“What about your other affinities?”

Julius didn’t really see much of a reason to hide his affinities, and so he told her the truth.

“They are all high as well.”

She laughed even harder, this time with a joyous smile on her face. “Okay, I think I understand your situation better now.”

Julius didn’t know what she found so amusing, and so he continued to ask her questions.

“So are these kinds of treasures rare or hard to get? I would like to get one for each of my affinities if possible.”

She looked at him with a knowing grin. “I can definitely get you one for your fire affinity. Our sect has several of these treasures on hand for people who show a lot of promise but didn’t get ideal affinities. I’m not sure about your kinetic affinity, though. That one will be a lot harder to get.”

“Is that going to be okay with other people in the sect? I haven’t even gotten there yet, much less joined.”

A treasure that increased one’s affinity to excellent might not have been as valuable as one that increased it to perfect, but they were surely valuable all the same. He doubted it was something that even a sect as big and powerful as the Burning Sun Sect could just give out to random people like him willy-nilly.

However, she must have believed differently and waved his concerns away. “It will be fine. I will personally reimburse the sect for them if needed.”

“Really?”

“Really.”

“No cost? Or a favor in return for it?”

Julius didn’t want to be indebted if possible. He hated that feeling of owing someone.

She thought for a few moments before offering a solution. “If you don’t feel comfortable taking it for free, you can host a few lessons on willpower training or something else if you want, and call it even.”

He nodded back to her. “Sure.” He didn't know if that was an equal exchange, but he would think of something else to give her.

“Wonderful. I will get it all settled once we are back at the sect,” she said with a smile, and he felt her release whatever barrier she had placed around them. At this point, both Shin and Maya had realized that it was up and were looking at them with intrigue.

Julius gave them a brief glance before turning back to Cassandra. “Are we close?”

“We will reach the border of Corvus tomorrow or the next day. After that, it will take another day or two to reach Ravenroot Crossing.”

“How long after that will it take to reach the sect?”

“Probably the same day. We should be able to access one of the sect’s teleportation stations at Ravenfoot Crossing.”

He grunted and looked off in the distance. “And if not?”

“Then we’ll have to find another station. It won’t be hard, though. We have allied sects all over the country. What? Did you want to travel around Corvus on foot?” She had another grin on her face.

“I can’t say I’m interested.”

“Well, sadly, I have stuff I need to do, and I am already cutting it close to when I promised to be back. But if you want, I don’t mind showing around the country afterwards. It’s a little smaller than your Empire, but it holds some fascinating secrets of its own.”

He nodded brightly. “Sounds good to me. Plus, it would be good for me to settle down for a little bit. I still need to go over some stuff I got from the tournament.”

“Perfect. But in the meantime, at least for the next couple of days, could you do me a favor?”

He scrunched his brows. “Depends. What kind of favor?”

“Can you help Maya with her willpower training?” She asked with a pointed look at the eavesdropping girl.

He nodded. He could use a training partner for his aura and willpower.

As for Maya, well, she must have heard them and was trying to crawl away from him. Sadly, she was still too tired from her battle and only succeeded in dirtying her already ragged clothes.

He strolled towards her with a bright grin and whistling a cheery tune.