Chapter 157: Toxic

After he left the rift with Declan, Julius immediately headed back to campus. He would have liked to stop and see Rae and Orus, but he could always do that another time. He already had plans to delve again, this time on his own. He would visit them after that.

At the moment he was feeling very happy. Declan had finally given him permission to delve solo. The older man had assessed that Julius could handle himself in a rift and accepted the fact that he couldn’t always be there to hold his hand.

Julius would certainly miss the company that Declan provided, but he would also enjoy the freedom he would now have. Just knowing someone as strong as Declan had his back didn’t make the delving experience feel like there were as many repercussions.

If he were to really get into a bad spot, he knew that Declan would have stepped in immediately.

That kind of ruined the thrill of the whole point of delving though. He didn’t like that.

What he did like, was the fact that [Quick Step] had reached level 15. That he liked very much.

In fact, that was a huge reason why he was promptly returning to campus. He wanted to get back as soon as he could so that he could see his options.

Although, it kind of soured the fun out of choosing when he already pretty much decided on the next skill. Still, it didn’t hurt to look and enjoy the process at least.

When he arrived, the campus was pretty bustling with people. He expected that since it was the weekend many of the students would have been out in town enjoying their time off. Instead, he saw more students than usual traveling around.

He had planned to get a training room, but since it was so busy, he knew he would have to wait in line. Not wanting to do that, he chose to head to the ledge spot at the back of the garden he had found recently.

When he got there, he was surprised to see someone who he recognized. It was the plant girl from his Applied Combat class. He was eighty percent confident that her name was Tia. She was a little bit away from his spot and was doing some sort of exercise with some plants.

They were swirling around her like snakes coiling around their prey. He felt some very delicate mana manipulations though, it was pretty impressive to watch.

He gave his cheek a pinch and reminded himself that he was there for a specific reason, not to observe other students, no matter how pretty what they were doing was.

He went over to his usual area and sat down comfortably. He took out some crackers and started to munch on them as he brought up his notifications.

[Quick Step] has reached level 15. Would you like to evolve the skill [Quick Step]?

He quickly selected yes and waited.

Skill evolution commencing…

Skill [Quick Step] is evolving… possible advancements: [Flash Step], [Burst Step], [Kinetic Dash], [Blasting Charge], and [Kinetic Leap]

He carefully looked over his options while chewing his crackers with a loud crunch. He wasn’t that surprised by the list. [Burst Step] was predictable, [Kinetic Dash] was almost the same option he got during his last evolution, just this time kinetic instead of fire.

[Blasting Charge] sounded like a fun one. He enjoyed imagining what kind of havoc he could create with a skill like that.

He had a feeling that this option was here from his little experiment with kinetic energy and [Quick Step] that resulted in a big boom. It most likely had a similar effect, but was even more explosive.

[Kinetic Leap] was probably from his most recent moon jump when he was fighting the wolves. It was possible that it could be a skill that would eventually evolve toward a flight skill.

That almost had him choosing [Kinetic Leap] before he could think about it.

But he was a different man now. He was a man of focus and resolve. His own Concept affirmed it. He wouldn’t let himself get distracted fr-

Shit, I dropped my crackers!

He hurriedly tried to save his bag of snacks that had dropped from his hand. There was a little bit of dirt on some of the ones he saved, but luckily he saved a majority of them.

What was I saying?

Anyway, he didn’t hesitate to choose [Flash Step], no matter how alluring the possibility of flight was, he had a plan with Gabriel already. If he wanted any one of them later, he would just have to find another skill that he could evolve that might give him those same options.

Congratulations, skill [Flash Step] (Rare) acquired.

Julius dropped the cracker he was moving toward his mouth to the ground. A spark of pain dug its way into his soul and agitated the soreness he had been feeling for a while now.

He tried his best to ignore it, but his soul had been acting up for a while now. He didn’t know the exact reason, but ever since he had gotten those two Concepts at the same time, his soul hasn’t been the same.

There was a deep fatigue that permeated throughout his entire soul. It especially came out whenever he made any increases to his skills.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

He took a deep breath and the worst of the pain tucked away. He then bent down and picked up his dropped cracker, plopping it into his mouth after wiping off the excess dirt.

There would be no wasting of any food on his watch.

He also took out a glass of refreshing juice to wash down the slightly thirst-provoking crackers and was about to taste a nice long gulp when he paused. Off to the side, he saw the plant girl, Tia finish with her exercise and look over at him with a weird look.

Or rather, it wasn’t directed at him, but it was directed at his food.

They met gazes briefly and Julius saw her blush lightly as she realized he noticed her staring. He just smiled at her reaction. So when she turned away from him, he took out another parcel of crackers from his storage along with the same beverage he had gotten himself and got up to his feet.