Chapter 577: Final Four

After they discussed his crown and other things, Cassandra had done what she had done before with him. She gave him some advice and several more training exercises to help him with his advanced flames. However, that wasn’t the only thing she did either. She also stayed for a little bit, enjoying the crafting competition with them.

When the rest of their friends returned, they accepted her appearance without a word of complaint. Julius and Lily didn’t even bother to tell them who Cassandra was. Of course, this was at the woman’s request. She wanted to hide her presence a little bit and pretend to be normal. He didn’t blame her for this. She likely didn’t have many opportunities to relax when she was back at her clan.

Aubrey wanted to ask some questions, but Lily must have sent Aubrey a telepathic message because Aubrey didn’t say a word. Also, Lily wouldn’t be okay with Cassandra if she sensed the woman had hostile intentions. His friends all trusted in Lily’s abilities.

In the end, the older man who made the Guardian Pillar won. The judges were very impressed by his creation. As was Cassandra. She noted that even Tier 5s would find this item useful and commented that she would find the man after the competition was over.

Julius suspected that she wouldn’t be the only one either. He already saw several representatives of groups heading toward the man before he even reached the edge of the stage. But he thought she would have a better chance, considering that she was Tier 6 and all.

They were all walking out of the stadium together. Cassandra was right beside him, licking some kind of sweet treat off a stick.

“You really should come with me back to Corvus. I think you would love it. My clan could help you advance your flames far better than they could here. The Scorched Wastelands are quite the dangerous place, but for someone like you, it might be a plentiful bounty,” she offered him once again.

He smiled at her. “I still gotta advance to Tier 4 after the tournament ends. I don’t know what is going to happen after that. Plus, Corvus is far away.”

He saw that his friends were confused by this conversation, but they didn’t interrupt.

“Well, the offer will always be on the table. I suspect that your time in the Empire will become more annoying,” she noted.

“What does that mean?” He asked with a frown.

She shrugged. “You’re famous now. That fame comes with its own issues. You won’t be able to bleed into the crowd as easily anymore. People will constantly try to find ways to learn more about you or to use you for their own ends. I have already heard of several other clans from Corvus that are here for the tournament, who are trying to find out ways to get you to join them.”

He clicked his tongue and admitted that she had a good point. His time in obscurity was gone now. He had shown too much, and honestly, he just wanted to advance to Tier 4 already. Freya and Cain were right; he had been putting it off for too long. He needed to stop wasting time. He couldn’t forget his goal of getting strong enough to protect the ones he cared about. Tier 3 wasn’t good enough.

He was strong enough to fight most Tier 4s, but that wouldn’t be sufficient against any truly talented Tier 4s or Tier 5s. There were plenty of those in the Empire. He had gotten lucky in the past. The times when he had fought those types of opponents were with the aid of someone else. And other times he was forced to be saved.

Even that chimera wasn’t as dangerous as some of the other opponents he had faced. Sure, the thing was strong and could heal, but it wasn’t truly a dangerous opponent. It had weaknesses he could exploit and wasn’t as smart as other enemies he had come across.

He was brought out of his thoughts when a hand slapped the back of his head. “Stop overthinking things. Just enjoy time with your friends for now. You will look back at these days fondly. Don’t waste them by sulking,” Cassandra scolded him.

He nodded. “You’re right.”

“I know, I’m right,” she said with a smirk. “Now I gotta get going. I have a meeting with some merchant groups later, and Loreyn will be upset if I show up late. Remember to practice those exercises I showed you. They might seem useless now, but they will help you later on. Your willpower is already sufficient to control an advanced fire, but there is no harm in continuing to work on it. And keep an eye on that crown of yours. I don’t want to find out that the thing consumed your soul the next time I see you. You know how to contact me if you need help, right?”

He nodded with a grin. “Yeah, I’m making no promises about the crown,” he said with a glance upward. “This thing has a mind of its own. But I will contact you if I have any other issues I need to ask you about.”

“Sounds good,” she said to him before she turned to his friends.

“Well, it was nice to meet you guys,” she raised her hand and waved before she vanished from sight. Julius didn’t even sense her spatial skill activate. She truly disappeared from his senses. He could only shake his head. Another demonstration of why he needed to get stronger.

“Okay, who the hell was that?” Aubrey finally asked loudly, throwing up her hands as her patience finally reached her limit.

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“That was Cassandra. She is the Vice-Leader of the Burning Sun Clan,” Julius explained to her.

“What’s the Burning Sun Clan?” She asked with a sharp frown.

“Just one of the clans, a part of the Ten Great Clans in Corvus.” Instead of Julius explaining this to her, it was Derek who spoke up.

“Is that a big deal?” Aubrey inquired. She really had no idea of what that meant.

Derek sighed. “You know that Julius mentioned this before, right?”

“I must not have been around,” Aubrey said with a casual shrug.

“Or not listening,” Julius pointed out.

“That too,” Aubrey agreed readily, which had him palm his forehead in exasperation.

“So what? Is it a big deal?” She asked again.