Chapter 344: Roaming Heston

Julius found himself roaming the streets of Heston with Lily and Marcus right beside him. They had insisted on coming with him, considering that he had been attacked not too long ago.

Part of his reason for doing so was that he wanted some time to relax and enjoy shopping around. The other reason was that he wanted to test out his new skill, and Lily recommended that he walk around a densely populated environment to help him adapt to the skill.

[Absolute Spatial Perception] was just as good as he could have hoped. It retained everything that his old skill had, plus more. The only thing he found challenging was processing all of the information he was getting from the skill.

Much like when he first received [Spatial Perception], his mind needed time to adapt to the additional stress and information load. For example, the overall distance he could sense had doubled, which meant the information he was getting at all times had increased exponentially. Since his skill acted as a sphere, it was more like eight times the amount of information. It required him to take advantage of [Sage of Savagery] to use the skill properly.

Luckily, he was able to modify this new version of the skill. Previously, he wasn’t able to manipulate certain functions of the skill. However, he could now narrow the distance and choose only to sense specific targets.

If he restricted the skill’s sphere of awareness, he could also extend his range of perception in a singular direction.

The clarity was much nicer as well. He could now see things in much sharper detail. What used to be a bit blurry and sometimes confusing to look at was now crisp.

However, what was probably the most important improvement to the skill was that it had combined his mana and aura senses into the skill. Previously, he had to manually use his mana senses and aura senses individually. He also didn’t have a dedicated skill to help with either of them. This meant that it took significant focus to perceive mana and aura.

To his credit, he was very good at both of them. Still, his new skill, alleviating much of that process, would be a massive boon.

Regardless, he was having a hard time acclimating to all of these new changes. It was why he was out in public desperately trying to expose himself to as many people as he could.

Everywhere he looked, he was assaulted by colorful bursts of mana. It wasn’t like before, either, where he could simply look away. With [Absolute Spatial Perception] active, there was no looking away. He had to take the good with the bad.

However, he had to admit it. Seeing all of the mana floating through the air was quite the sight. It made him realize just how integral mana was in this world. Almost everything around him had some measure of mana. It didn’t matter if it was a stone wall or a piece of meat a vendor was grilling. Everything had mana.

If it were only mana, then he might have been able to handle the new skill with less difficulty. But it was the aura that was truly challenging. It was less present than mana, usually limited to living beings. However, it was the fluctuation that really got him.

Any deviation or minute changes of emotion were able to be felt with his skill. Sometimes he would see someone’s aura bloom out in a raging red, signifying their anger. Or someone’s bright, twinkling aura when they got excited.

It was just a lot to take in at once, but that was why he had asked Lily for help. She had recommended this particular exercise to him. When she was learning about her psychic powers, her family had forced her to expose herself to chaotic environments.

Some might think that cruel, considering that she was only a little girl at the time, but she insisted that she was grateful for their harsh decision. It had helped her gain control much faster and with greater confidence than she otherwise would have.

So he followed her lead and kept on extending his perception skill. When he would experience a particularly harsh wave of sensations, she was right there next to him holding him up. Marcus was there keeping a close eye on the environment, making sure nobody attacked him.

Surprisingly, he felt very protected. Lily was already a really good person to have when it came to detecting threats. Her psychic abilities were really good at sorting out dangerous people with nasty intentions. Then there was Marcus, who was a powerful Tier 5.

After he had to stop and take a break from the overload of sensations, he spoke to the man.

“How come you’re staying in Heston? Don’t you have a lot of important stuff to do?”

Marcus shook his head. “Not at the moment. Plus, with Lady Lily’s graduation coming up, I didn’t think staying around for a bit would be a bad idea.”

“Fair enough,” Julius said with a grin, admiring how much the man clearly cared for Lily. It was sweet that he wanted to celebrate her achievement with her.

Lily suddenly pointed at a nearby shop. “Hey, let’s head in there. They sometimes have some really good stuff.”

Julius looked over at where she was pointing. The shop in question was quite minimal in design, and if he was just passing by, he might have thought it to be a simple shop. However, he could tell with his new skill that the materials of the building contained an extraordinary amount of mana. The enchantments that went along with it were even more impressive. He was practically blinded by the complexity of it all.

He winced but nodded at her. “Sure, we’ve got plenty of time,” he said while walking toward the door and opening it. He held it for Lily and Marcus, giving each of them a mocking bow as he ushered them in.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

When he followed them, he was stunned at what he saw. The shop wasn’t like anything he had expected. It was actually a jewelry store. Accessories and other wondrous objects were displayed in gorgeous crystal cases.

It was also spatially enlarged as well and for the first time since he got it, his Concept of Space was pulsing aggressively. When he reached out with his new skill, he choked on his tongue for a moment at what he saw.

It was nothing like the cracks he had formed with his skill. The space in front of him was intricately woven with spatial ripples. It was like someone had painstakingly folded each individual thread of space by hand. It made his teleportation attempt, which he had been so proud of, look like a child’s ugly attempt at a self-portrait in comparison.

He had never seen space like this before, and he couldn’t help but wonder if his skill or his Concept made it possible.

As he admired it, he could see that Lily had already walked up to a guy at the counter. They both seemed familiar with each other because the man was slightly bowing toward her.

“Lady Lily, it is wonderful to see you again.”

“It’s amazing to see you, too, Harold. I hope you and your family are doing well.”

The two of them exchanged pleasantries for some time, and in the meantime, Julius decided to look around. There were many interesting objects, many of which he had no idea of their purpose. But most of them were inlaid with breathtakingly gorgeous gemstones.

He spotted a particularly interesting black ring that was decorated with a green band in the center, wrapping around it. The green material looked almost like an emerald, but he had never seen a gemstone quite like it before.