Chapter 353: Graduation Ceremony

Several days passed, and before he knew it, the end of the semester had arrived. The graduation ceremony was much more extravagant than he would have expected. Almost every student had their noble families come to the event, which meant there was a lot of stuffiness and tension amongst the students and their families.

Luckily, since the venue was so huge, there was plenty of space for them to avoid each other if they wanted. Some families were also good friends. Apparently, a significant number of parents had gone to Goldencrest with the other parents.

After the ceremony, Julius was walking around looking for his friends. They were all probably with their parents and celebrating with them. He did want to go over and congratulate them, though. It seemed like the appropriate thing to do as a friend. He even had Reinera with him, however she had her disguise on for the time being. It was just so that she wouldn’t be overwhelmed by the nobles.

He admitted he was a little nervous to meet his friends’ families. The only ones he knew were Lily’s parents, but he had yet to meet the other ones. According to Lily, they were all acquainted with one another already.

He was quite surprised to hear that Aubrey’s mother was also coming. As a Tier 6, Julius half expected the woman to be too busy to show up for the ceremony. Thus, he was taken aback when Aubrey told him that her mother was coming, and was even more surprised when he heard that she wanted to meet him.

As fate would have it, Aubrey was the first one he found in the throng of people. He sensed her with [Absolute Spatial Perception] and noticed the woman standing right next to her. However, what he noticed right away was the sheer weight of this person. Whether it was mana, aura, or just the woman’s physical presence, Julius felt his heart beat a little faster.

This woman felt much different than even other Tier 6s he had met. Dante and Alice were strong, no doubt about that, but there was something different about Aubrey’s mother. The only time he felt this way was when he met Elder Han.

He also didn’t know if his new perception skill influenced his senses. It was very possible with how the skill integrated his aura and mana senses.

With that said, there was no doubt in his mind that this was Aubrey’s mother. The woman was absolutely stunning, looking very similar to Aubrey. She was tall and brunette, but she had this beautiful luster that had everyone in the vicinity, including him, staring in awe.

However, since she was a Tier 6, Julius couldn’t say he could blame anyone for staring. However, since her aura was restrained heavily, it probably had to do more with her looks than her power. He didn’t know if this was a byproduct of being Tier 6 or if she was naturally like this.

He did recognize that people were giving Aubrey and her mother plenty of space. They weren’t crowding them like Julius kind of expected, given the circumstances. However, it also made sense that swarming a Tier 6 during her daughter’s celebration was a bad idea and nobody wanted to piss off a Tier 6. Or maybe Aubrey’s mother was using some kind of technique to keep them away. He really didn’t know.

He wasn’t that alarmed when Aubrey’s mother somehow sensed that he was there and turned around to look at him with a confident smile. The woman’s attention on him made him feel uneasy for some reason. Normally, he didn’t feel like that in front of strong people. It wasn’t even like she was exuding any of her aura toward him either. He would think she was just a normal Tier 3 individual if he didn’t know any better.

However, he chuckled to himself when he was forced to use [Sage of Savagery] to help keep him relaxed.

When he and Reinera eventually approached them, Aubrey’s mother immediately looked at him meaningfully.

“So you’re the one that my daughter has found such interest in,” she said to him, giving him a once-over with her iridescent eyes.

“Um, yes?” Julius said carefully.

“Mom, don’t be weird. He’s just a friend,” Aubrey scolded her mother.

“Don’t worry, Aubrey, I just want to meet him. Is there anything wrong with that?” He spotted right away how similar the two of them were. Just from their tone, he could tell they were related.

“You can do that without looking at him like he’s some kind of unique monster on display,” Aubrey said before turning her attention to Julius. “Sorry about her, she can be nosy. Anyways, have you seen the others yet?”

Julius looked over at her mother, who was surprisingly fine with Aubrey’s attitude and was still smiling at her daughter gently. “No, you are the first one I have seen. I think we might have to just meet up with them afterward. There are just too many people around.”

“Why don’t we just head out now and meet up with them later, Aubrey?” Her mother said while looking at the huge crowd.

Aubrey and Julius looked at each other, shrugging their shoulders. They were both fine with that. He didn’t enjoy crowds that much anyway, especially with his new skill. The feedback was still something he needed to get used to. The extended distance was already hard enough, but since he was receiving information about the mana and aura around him, that made it really challenging.

It was only when they walked away from all the other families that Aubrey’s mother formally introduced herself to him.

“It’s nice to meet you, Julius. As you might have already noticed, I am Aubrey’s mother, but you can call me Fiona,” she said to him with a warm smile.

“It’s nice to meet you as well. Aubrey always talks about you proudly,” he admitted to her.

“Aw, she does?” Fiona asked with a grin toward her daughter, who was rolling her eyes at the two of them.

“All the time.”

Julius chuckled and gestured toward Reinera. “And before I forget, this is my friend, Grace.”

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“It’s an honor to meet you, Lady Crysalia,” Reinera said politely and bowed.

“Grace, huh?” Fiona said with an inquisitive look at her, even going so far as to lean down toward the smaller girl. Her face was only a foot away from Reinera’s when she tilted her head and finally chuckled after a moment.

“Almost got me there, girly,” Aubrey’s mother said with a smile.

“What do you mean?” Reinera asked, confused at the woman’s actions.

“You might be able to fool other people, but not me, little princess.”

Reinera froze. “Sorry?”

“Don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone. Honestly, I almost didn’t sense anything wrong until I got a closer look. That is one hell of an item. Whoever made that is quite the gifted crafter,” Fiona complemented.

Reinera gave a strained smile in return. “Thanks.”

Fiona stepped back, pleased by the reaction, and looked back at Julius. She was about to say something, but they both noticed a group of people walking toward them.

It wasn’t any of his friends like he expected. It wasn’t even someone he knew. But from the way they dressed, he would assume they were influential people. Likely a Noble House.

Actually, on second thought, he did recognize someone. Trailing behind this group was someone he was acquainted with. At least somewhat acquainted. After all, they had fought recently.