Path to Transcendence

When it was finally just them alone with Kaito, the man smiled and walked over to Julius, surprising him with a gentle hug.

“Thank you,” the usually stoic man said with sincerity dripping from his words.

Julius was so taken aback that he simply patted the man on the back. “Um, you're welcome.”

“What did he do?” Lily asked curiously though she seemed happy for some reason.

Kaito pulled away and brandished Julius like he was his proud jewel. “He helped save my daughter’s life.”

Julius scratched his head, uncomfortable with the direct praise. “I was going to ask how she was doing. Has Aurelia and her been getting along?”

“Yes, they have been inseparable. In fact, their bond has been so effective that Lora has already advanced to Tier 3. Her mana channels have also seen unprecedented growth, Aurelia’s mana has tempered them far beyond anything I would have hoped for. There is almost no signs of damage or of her previous condition,” Kaito said joyfully.

Julius smiled. He was glad to hear that Lora was doing well.

“She is actually waiting to see you again and was scared when she heard you were missing. I didn’t tell her you were coming yet, but she is waiting inside if you don’t mind me grabbing her.” Kaito directed this last part at Lily.

Lily smiled warmly. “I don’t mind at all.”

“Wonderful, let me go grab her,” Kaito said and quickly dashed back inside, looking nothing like a serious leader of one of Goldmere’s prominent clans. Rather he acted like an excited father.

When he was gone, Lily and Marcus turned to look at Julius. “How come you always manage to get involved in stuff like this?” Lily asked with a shake of her head.

Julius shrugged. “I don’t know. It just happens.”

“Well, this will certainly make negotiations easier. I was somewhat worried about discussing things with Clan Yoshu. They are known to be quite inflexible with certain things. It seems like Lord Kaito is quite taken with you.”

“He’s a good man, and cares for his daughter a lot,” Julius explained and would have said more but he sensed Lora coming out with her father.

Lora looked so different from the last time he’d seen her. She hadn’t been sickly looking, but there was this air of vitality and glow around her that wasn’t there before. She also looked like she had gained a few pounds to fill out her previously frail frame, which made her sinewy muscles stand out even more. She still looked younger than her age would indicate, after all she had been hindered for most of her life, but there was a serious difference.

However, he was quite surprised to see her blank expression on her face. It was like she didn’t even recognize him. He didn’t know— oh yeah. He remembered that his face was different.

He looked over at Kaito and saw the small grin on the man’s face. Realizing that her father hadn’t told her about Julius’s new identity, he shook his head slightly, but smiled inwardly.

He stepped forward and waved. “Hey Lora! I’m glad to see you are doing well.”

Lora seemed more confused than anything, she frowned and took a step back. “Thank you, I’m sorry have we met before?”

He held his hand across his chest and pretended to be hurt. “You don’t remember me?”

Lora didn’t so much as flinch or look like she felt bad. She continued to stare at him in a way that mimicked her father so well that it was quite eerie to observe.

“I’m sorry, but no. I don’t think I recall where we’ve met.”

Julius was about to tease her some more when he saw a brief flash of light over Lora’s shoulder. A soft white bird with pale green wings fluttered into existence. Before Julius could greet Aurelia, the little bird’s form rippled and tore across the distance in the blink of an eye, hovering right in front of Julius, sending warm bursts of happiness and joy through her aura.

“Hey there,” he said with a gentle laugh when she softly poked him with her beak, and reached up to scratch her wings in the way she liked. Apparently Aurelia had seen straight through his new face easily.

Lora seemed dumbfounded for a few moments and it took her a little bit of time to connect the dots, but when she finally did, she reacted much like Aurelia, tearing across the grass and launching herself at Julius, tackling him at the waist.

“How are you doing?” he patted the top of her head and asked with a chuckle.

“Me?! Where have you been?” she said, looking up at him with an accusatory glare.

“Trapped inside an old, smelly dwarves' workshop.”

“Huh?” Lora asked with confusion.

“Nevermind about that. How have you been?” he asked again.

“Amazing. I didn’t know life could be this marvelous,” she said with a bright giggle. “I can’t thank you enough. Aurelia is grateful too. We have been balancing each other's conditions out and are almost completely stabilized. We need some work to do, but compared to half a year ago, it’s nothing.”

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“I’m glad to hear that,” he said, giving Aurelia another scratch much to her enjoyment.

Lora poked him in the stomach several times. “Where’s Drasil?”

He batted her finger away with an amused chuckle. “You want to see him?”

“Yes!”

Julius quickly summoned Drasil and much to his surprise, the little spirit decided to show off his true form. Standing at a staggering several inches tall, Drasil proudly demonstrated his magnificence. His crown of interconnected vines and leaves sparkled green and his feathery wings that were just like the ones Julius used when flying were on full display.

“Did he evolve too?” Lora asked in awe, which seemed to make Drasil happy.

“No, he was hiding his true form before.” Though, Drasil did seem to get a bit stronger when Julius had evolved his soul. He might have even gained a smidge of height too. Maybe a couple centimeters or something.

“He is so cute,” Lora said and reached to pet Drasil much to his delight.

However, Julius was more interested in the deferential behavior Aurelia was demonstrating toward Drasil. She was bowing her little head as if Drasil was some sort of royalty.

“Hey Lora, where are your manners? Don’t ignore our other guests,” Kaito chided gently.

Lora flushed and suddenly looked very embarrassed. To her credit, she quickly composed herself and bowed toward Lily and Marcus. “My apologies for my behavior, my name is Lora Yoshu. It’s an honor to meet you.”

Lily waved her hand. “Don’t worry about it. Julius is a good friend, so it’s nice to see him make friends and people who treat him well.”

Kaito stepped forward and placed his hands on Lora’s shoulders warmingly. “Why don’t you take Drasil and Aurelia with you to hang out while I talk with Lady Lily here. Once we finish up the boring official business we can have a proper reunion.”

Lora seemed reluctant but nodded. “Sure, but don’t take too long,” she said with a soft mutter before grabbing both Aurelia and Drasil with her, dragging them over an isolated area in the garden.

Kaito then looked over at Lily with a little more somberness. “There is a lot I would like to talk to you about.”

***

Lily and Kaito discussed things for a lot longer than either Lily or Marcus expected. But there was a good reason for it. Kaito had brought up such a sensitive topic that anything less than this would be careless.

And while Lily and Marcus were caught off guard by the nature of the question, Julius couldn’t say he was that shocked. After all, he had already spent enough time around Kaito and Clan Yoshu to understand the dynamic between the clan and its members.

Kaito’s question was simple. Was House Violet willing to help him clean up Clan Yoshu?

It was apparent that it had already been infested by the snake called Celestine and by proxy, the Conclave. As Julius saw when they arrived, Kaito’s uncle had already formed a powerful group of clan members who wished to support Celestine and the Conclave with a little more… fervor.

Kaito had already laid out what he desired from Lily and her house. For one, he needed capital to either buy mercenaries or adventurers. He couldn’t be sure as to who in Clan Yoshu was loyal to whom.

He already had Clan Kaizen’s support with this. Apparently Kaito had been in contact with their patriarch and it hadn’t taken much convincing. There was already bad blood between Clan Kaizen and Celestine. Some of which, might or might not have been stoked by Julius and Selene…

He wisely decided to push that detail to the side for the time being.

However, the next request was a bit more of an ask. He wanted House Violet to lend some of their personnel. A small group of elites and mind mages who would make clan reforms a lot simpler when things were over.

This way Kaito would know who to trust and who to eliminate as a future threat.

“I don’t have any issues with the first request. The forms of collateral and terms of the contract are more than fair. However, the second is a bit… risky,” Lily said after putting down the contract Kaito had handed over to her.

“I understand, but the only way I can accomplish this clean up without too many casualties and a lot of mess, is to rely on your house. Are the terms not sufficient?”

“It’s not even the terms, it is a matter of whether or not you can do this even with my house’s aid. There is no guarantee that you will come out on top. As you know by now, the Conclave isn’t a random group. They have deep pockets and many hidden experts who they might send to interfere. As you already admitted, they are aware of your stance against them, which is why they are trying to oust you out of your position,” Lily said, rubbing her brow concerningly.

“As many experts as House Violet?”

“I’m not sure. Most of our people are already doing other work. And many of the ones from our allies who might be interested are preoccupied with other things,” Lily explained.

“We don’t need much. Honestly, from what I’ve learned, there isn’t anyone above Tier 5 who will be able to interfere. Not only do they not have anyone in their back pocket, but any outsider Tier 6 making a move will draw too much attention from the Golden Cauldron Sect. They don’t appreciate when people too powerful interfere with their business,” Kaito commented.

“You’re willing to bet your clan on that assumption?”

“Yes, the last few outsiders who have tried something similar were all killed or heavily punished by the Golden Cauldron Sect.”

Lily frowned and tapped her lip. “How many would you need?”

“A few mind mages who can help sort out loyalties and a couple Tier 5s. Or honestly, just Marcus,” Kaito stated with a nod to the one armed man silently listening on the side. “From rumors I’ve heard about Mr. Avery, he is more than enough to handle most Tier 5s he comes across.”

“No, I will not have one of my house’s most valuable retainers put at risk for another country’s clan politics,” Lily said firmly.

Kaito nodded as if this was expected and handed her another sheet of paper with a pained expression.

Lily took it with interest and quickly read it. When she was done, she looked up and stared at Kaito with disbelief. “You don’t have the authority to promise this.”

“My father has already told me that I can do what I want.”

“He’s not going to intervene with this or help you?”

Kaito scoffed. “He said that I need to be able to handle something of this scale if I wish to become patriarch in the future. The truth is that he is too focused on advancing to Tier 6 to care. He has been done with politics for years.”

“You do know that this could ruin your clan,” Lily said, while holding up the paper.

“Perhaps, but that is why I’m only offering it to House Violet. Other people might take advantage of it, but I did extensive investigations into your other holdings, both large and minor. They all proved that you act with honor and long term benefits. I’m mostly certain you won’t destroy Clan Yoshu.”

Lily frowned for a bit before looking up with a firm nod. “I think we can come to an agreement of some kind.”

Julius paused. What could have Kaito offered Lily to make her change her mind so decisively.

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