Chapter 591: Officially Tier 4

With a confused expression on his face, Julius asked, “What do you mean by that?”

“You’re too famous in the Empire now. You will always be a target, especially until you get strong enough to protect yourself. If you stay with the two of us or with one of your friends’ families, you would likely get stronger. Your foundation is strong enough to accomplish that,” Cain explained.

“But…?” Julius pressed, feeling there was a caveat.

“But you will never reach your full potential if you hamper yourself down like that. You would inevitably reach a point where you need something different to progress further. If you limit yourself as many scions do, you won’t be able to reach the places I know you want to get to.”

He spotted that Freya had a despondent expression on her face, but he could tell that she agreed with Cain. Julius grimaced and looked off at a random wall. “So what? I just gotta leave?”

“If you want to truly improve and advance, then yes. I believe that is necessary. To be honest, even if we wanted to, it would be difficult to truly protect you in a place like the capital. You are too well-known at this point. It would require you to live in isolation and always be in fear of someone trying to kill you. That’s not a life either of us wants from you.”

Julius sighed and looked up at the ceiling. “Fine.”

“I know you might not— hmm?” Cain was about to continue trying to convince Julius, but Julius agreed right away instead.

“I said, I agree with you two,” he repeated.

“Oh, umm, good,” Cain said with an awkward chuckle.

Julius smiled at Cain and Freya, trying to let them know that he understood that it was for the best. He knew better than anyone that he needed a change. The tournament and sparring partners had been great to have, but it lacked a certain spark of danger. There were no real threats to his life or his safety. He realized that he missed fighting with real consequences.

The only time he got skill levels was when someone like Oliver beat the crap out of him. And it wasn’t like he could just have a bunch of Tier 6s lined up to help him gain levels. It was already a blessing that he had Cain and Freya to help him. Thus, leaving made sense.

His friends might not like it, but they would also understand. Or would eventually understand.

“Well, this is all heartwarming and stuff, but I need to get going. I have several more things to prepare before you two enter the rift. Just let me know when you two are ready, and I will come and get you,” Doren said suddenly as he stood up and addressed Cain and Freya. Then the man turned to Julius.

“It is nice to see that your soul is mostly healed. I hoped to see you… struggle more when you consumed the marble, but alas, we can’t win them all…”

“What do you mean by struggle more?” Freya asked with a deep frown.

Doren ignored her. “If you ever want to help me with some research, then feel free to reach out. I already have several ideas for experimentation that would thoroughly test your new Tier 4 body.”

“I’m good,” Julius stated swiftly. He had no interest in being Doren’s lab rat. To be fair, he was lucky that Doren wasn’t just kidnapping him to run tests on his way either. He suspected there were plenty of crazies out there who would have done exactly that.

“I appreciate your help, though,” he said with a little smile.

Doren nodded with a chuckle. “No worries. I can’t wait to see where you might end up given several more years. Consider this an investment for an interesting research subject.”

Julius rolled his eyes and watched as Doren stood up, stretching out and putting all of his various instruments back into his storage space. Then, in a use of spatial magic that Julius wasn’t even capable of comprehending, Doren vanished.

He knew that Freya had placed several powerful enchantments around their property, but Julius didn’t know how Doren managed to bypass them. He hadn’t sensed any chaotic space used.

“How did he do that?”

Cain sighed. “Your guess is as good as ours. That man does what he wants.”

“Hmm. So you are serious about me going somewhere else?”

“Absolutely, if you want to, that is,” Cain added.

“Where would I go?”

“You still have that offer from that Vice Clan Leader, right?”

Julius frowned but nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t know if I want to accept it. It sounds like a pain.”

Freya nodded with him but placed a comforting hand on his back. “Perhaps, but Corvus is a relatively simple place. Almost everything is decided by merit and strength. It can be a little harsh and barbaric, but I think you might find it pleasant depending on where you go. It’s also a good place to make your way through Tier 4. Cain and I spent a few years in Corvus when we were younger. The rifts in that country are very interesting, and you might even come across a few inheritance sites. You might not want to accept these inheritances, but they will undoubtedly be good things to learn from.”

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“What do I need to focus on in order to progress through Tier 4?” Julius asked, wondering if there were any tricks they had for him.

“Honestly, it varies from person to person. But in your case, I would say that challenging yourself and a wide breadth of experiences will do more for your Authority and its progression than anything else.”

Julius tapped his chin. “Hmm.”

“What Authority and body evolution did you end up getting anyway?” Cain asked with a curious tilt of his head.

Julius looked around. “Do you think Doren is listening?”