Chapter 354: Crystal Tyrant

Fiona Crysalia POV

Fiona was on her way to meet with one of her people. Although she was primarily there to celebrate her daughter, she also had some business in Heston to take care of. There had been some surprising news about the Alliance of the Morning Sun.

Halom Anderaz, the new leader of the Alliance, had been making some moves in the Empire’s territory. At least that was what Logan had messaged to her a few days ago. That was why she was on her way to meet him. He had been investigating what was going on.

While she didn’t care all that much about the Empire and the Royal Family, she recognized that since she primarily lived in the Empire, she had some responsibilities to make sure opposing countries didn’t negatively affect her own life.

So when she heard that the Alliance of the Morning Sun was trying to buy up a lot of her mana crystals discreetly, she couldn’t help but get curious. Nobody bought that many crystals unless they were planning to power something extraordinarily large or to artificially manipulate the market.

It was only thanks to Logan that she managed to find out in time. Honestly, the number wasn’t too large to be really concerning, but there was something amiss about the timing, and she wanted to figure out what was going on before it was too late.

As she walked toward her meet-up, she thought back on her recent interaction with the boy Aubrey had befriended recently. That young boy tried hard to hide it, but she was able to sense the alarmingly dangerous aura he had hidden beneath the surface.

She had heard that the boy was strong. She made sure to have her people investigate the boy the moment her daughter had mentioned him. She knew that there were plenty of people who would go to extreme lengths just to foster a positive relationship with her, even if it meant going through her daughter to do so.

It was why she thoroughly investigated everyone her daughter interacted with. However, she was surprised at how little her people were able to find out about the young boy. According to what they could find, Julius had shown up in Heston out of nowhere.

He had some contacts with the city guard, and Declan Griffin recommended him to Goldencrest. She also found out that he had a good relationship with Gabriel Kellar, someone she had been keeping her eye on. She wasn’t the only one, either. Gabriel Kellar had made quite the name for himself a few years ago, and she had recently learned that the man had finally advanced to Tier 5, despite growing a family.

She thought he had a good chance of advancing to Tier 6 eventually. Quite the impressive feat, and one she couldn’t say about everyone.

Thus if someone like that found Julius interesting enough to befriend, there must be something intriguing about the boy beneath the surface. It was why she kept a close eye on the boy. To her amusement, she found that he was full of surprises the longer examined him.

At some point, he managed to cripple his soul far beyond what someone his age and strength should be able to. At least that was according to her daughter.

Aubrey had pleaded with her to find a way to heal the boy, but at the time, Fiona hadn’t been planning to help all that much. She had given the boy an item that would help, but it wasn’t everything she could do.

If she wanted to, she could have given the boy some treasures that would have not only healed his soul but empowered it far beyond what it had once been. Of course, those treasures came with certain drawbacks, which was why she hadn’t given them to Aubrey, but they still would have been valuable to almost everyone else.

Then to her astonishment, Julius somehow managed to heal his soul. Her daughter never told her exactly how he did it, but from what Fiona could discern, it was from the boy’s own efforts. Which was extremely curious. Not many people would be able to do that.

Either the damage wasn’t as bad as Aubrey had explained, or something else occurred. Now meeting him in person, she assumed that it was the latter.

Like she said, his aura showed many signs of tempering. Yes, there was a destructive element to it, but there were also markings of tribulation and death—something she only saw in people who went through life-threatening events and came out stronger.

His disappearance several months ago along with the princess had further surprised her. However she was even more surprised at how distraught her daughter had become when it happened. Apparently, her and her friends had adopted this boy into their friend group quite easily and his loss hit them hard.

She wasn’t going to complain about their closeness, though. She was convinced that Julius was a big reason why her daughter suddenly became more motivated and stronger in a short period. It was to the extent that she was having second thoughts about Aubrey’s talents. There was a real chance that Aubrey could work her way up the ranks and reach Tier 5 in a short period if she kept this up.

Then, after months of silence, the boy shows back up with the princess in tow. Somehow even stronger than ever and at Tier 3.

If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it’s taken without the author’s consent. Report it.

He then went on to effortlessly beat many young students who were considered quite talented, even by her standards. Liam Abrams, Irene Graves, Bethany Jacobs, Darren Silum, and especially her own daughter were no simple opponents.

From their initial meeting, she could tell he was skilled and level-headed. He was also someone she thought would be good for Aubrey. He would push her far beyond what she would normally be capable of if she wanted to keep up.

She was almost certain she felt several strong Concepts interwoven into the boy’s aura along with its already dangerous destruction aspect power. Concepts were always a good indicator of talent and hard work. Those who had good ones, almost always went on to become strong no matter their tier.

If Aubrey really wanted to go on an adventure in the Endless Forest in a couple of weeks, she would feel much more comfortable if she had someone like Julius alongside her. The Endless Forest was dangerous even at its most peaceful.

Unlike other places, there wasn’t a way to safely escape the forest. The chaotic nature of the forest created an isolated environment that made it nearly impossible for any teleportation circles to be set up. Spatial tools were heavily limited, and it would be next to impossible for Aubrey to call for help if she needed it.

That wasn’t even talking about the incoming monster flood that was bound to happen in the coming years.