Chapter 530: Tezuko Willow

Julius woke up and found himself surrounded by the other participants outside the temple. He immediately threw his senses out to find his friends, and quickly found them all beginning to stand up as well.

He went over to them and helped them up while keeping his guard up. He didn’t want Garrett and his group to attack them suddenly. He spotted the other scion to the side and noticed the large grin on his face as he held some type of potion in his hands. It was glowing with powerful surges of mana.

That must have been the prize Garrett had received from his trial. Whatever he had gotten, it must have been pretty good if he was that happy about it.

Julius looked down at his own prize. The worn-out leather book seemed sad in comparison. But he reminded himself that it could be something even more impressive given time and some help from Freya. He tucked it away into his storage ring for the time being.

He looked off to the side and spotted Riven heading over to them.

The mage waved at Julius with a grin of his own. Eva, Riven’s childhood friend, was trailing right behind him.

“What’s got you in such a cheery mood?” Julius asked with a tilt of his head, noticing that Riven was bouncing on his feet with excitement.

“Well, thanks to you, I managed to fulfill some conditions that helped me evolve one of my skills to epic after such a long time. And because of that, I earned quite a useful little reward to go along with it,” Riven said, bragging to Julius shamelessly.

“Good for you,” Julius said flatly.

“What did you get? Anything good?” Riven asked with a bright grin before waving his arm. “Of course you did. You probably got something totally broken,” he said with a laugh.

However, he was poked in the side by Eva. She must have noticed that Julius didn’t look all that thrilled.

“Oh, does that mean you didn’t?” Riven asked curiously.

Julius shrugged. “I’m not sure how good it is yet.”

“You want to show me? Maybe I can tell you if it’s a good thing or not. My master might be a bit odd, but he hasn’t slacked off when dealing with my education,” Riven said proudly.

“Why would he show you? He barely knows you,” Aubrey said with a scoff. Julius hid a grin when he detected minor signs of jealousy coming from her.

Riven grasped his chest offendedly. “Julius and I are best friends. Our fight has cemented our status as brothers,” he said with sparkling eyes.

Julius rolled his eyes. “Stop being dramatic.”

Riven smiled sheepishly. “Sorry.”

He didn’t sound sorry at all.

However, Julius didn’t see a reason not to trust Riven. Funnily enough, he got a similar feeling from the mage that he got from his other friends when he first met them. And look how that turned out for him?

Plus, someone who was the disciple of Archmage Valis must have some knowledge about some things. Right?

Julius had already placed a barrier around themselves and glanced at Eva. The only person that he didn’t trust was inside the barrier.

Riven noticed his glance and nodded understandingly.

“I promise you that she won’t say a word to anyone. I will take full responsibility if she does. I swear it on my life,” Riven said with a firm pulse of aura, confirming his sincerity.

Julius didn’t particularly like it, but if he were going to trust Riven, then he would have to extend that trust to Eva if they were that close. Furthermore, it wasn’t like he was trusting them with his skills or other secrets. Compared to the rest of his secrets, this one barely counted as a secret.

So without another word, he took out the ragged book from his ring and passed it over to Riven.

He saw the mage’s nose pucker when he saw the unsightly condition of the book.

“Well, at least it’s still bound together,” Riven noted when he examined the title. Julius watched as a flash passed through the mage’s eyes.

“Do you recognize it?” Julius asked.

Riven shook his head but didn’t leave the book. “Can’t say I recognize the title. But I recognize the person who wrote it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, I got a pretty good mind skill that helps me remember spell formations easier. It also helps me remember general information as well, so I have an excellent memory,” Riven surprisingly shared freely.

“And?” Julius pressed.

Riven grimaced. “Tezuko Willow was a maniac.”

Tezuko Willow, huh? It would seem that the Verdant Willow Sect was indeed named after the man. However, the way Riven described the man didn’t sound very pleasant.

“That doesn’t sound very good,” Julius noted.

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Riven shook his head. “No, not really. But he also was a powerful maniac.”

“Says the disciple of one of the Empire’s biggest maniacs,” Aubrey commented with a grunt.

Riven pivoted his gaze to her. “My master is not a maniac,” he said defensively.

Aubrey stayed silent and simply gave a leveled glare at Riven.