Path to Transcendence

The list was quite extensive, offering classes ranging from practical combat to sculpting. There were four mandatory classes that he had to do, he just needed to pick out what times he would like to take them. He also got a choice of at least two electives.

The mandatory classes, for combat-focused students, were: Physical Training, Applied Combat, Intro to Mana Control, and Tier Advancement. Everything except for Applied Combat was one hour long. Applied Combat was two hours a day, meaning that he would have at least five hours a day taken up by these classes. If he took two electives that would make it seven hours a day for school alone. That wasn’t taking into account breaks and eating.

It was going to be a busy schedule from here on out. He was interested in what kind of electives they offered and checked the list over. However, just when he was reviewing the first few, he felt a group of students sit down at his table.

Julius looked up to see the people who chose to sit at the secluded table he chose for a reason. There were half a dozen open tables between him and the busier part of the cafeteria. He wondered why they chose this particular table to sit at.

He thought about getting up to sit at another open table, but he didn’t want to come off as rude, especially on his first day here. The group didn’t bother him in the beginning, they just sat down, ignored him, and started to eat. However, they soon began to talk very loudly with each other, making it difficult for Julius to think about what classes he was going to choose.

There were three guys and two girls included in the group. The guys were wearing the men’s gold and black uniform and appeared to be fourth-years. All of them were tall, but the one on the right was lean-looking with pale, soft features, wearing a pair of glasses. The one on the left was the complete opposite, he was a scary-looking big boy with rugged features and light brown skin. Not quite as large as Gabriel but for a guy around eighteen years old he was massive, the poor guy was barely able to fit on the bench.

The one in the middle looked like he was the leader of the group and was a perfect combination of his two friends. He had long blond hair swept back, and sharp features. He was fit, but not too bulky, just the right amount of muscle. He was incredibly handsome with an air of charisma about him. He seemed like a picturesque example of a noble scion.

The other two girls were sitting across the table across from the boys. One was a tall beauty, with long brown hair that fell across her face, framing her model-like features. The other girl was also very pretty, just a different aesthetic. She was a few inches shorter than Julius’s average frame and had dark blonde hair curled in delicate waves, that bounced up and down every time she laughed or moved.

The girls were laughing and having a conversation on one side of the table, the blonde girl was talking about her trip to Sevilm, a coastal city just up north from Heston. The other three boys were discussing the trip all three of them took together amongst each other.

Julius didn’t get up and leave immediately, he forwent looking at the classes until he got back to his room. Instead, he just decided to finish the rest of his meal.

However, the blonde noble seemed to finally notice that they were sitting with another person and got up from his seat and sat down next to Julius, wrapping an arm around Julius’s shoulder.

“Hi there! My name is Derek, what’s yours?” The guy asked with a smile.

Julius looked at Derek, then at the arm that was wrapped around him, and back at Derek. It seemed the guy realized he might’ve come across as too friendly and quickly released Julius.

“It’s Julius,” he finally answered Derek.

“Nice to meet you Julius, I noticed you were a first-year and saw your class list over there. I just wanted to ask if you need any help or have any questions about which classes might be best for you, we are all fourth years so we know some things,” the guy said.

That was nice of him to say. Julius didn’t know what to expect when he sat down but he was glad the boy wasn’t awful so far.

“Actually, yeah, I have a question. It said that we need to choose at least two electives, which ones do you think are most useful?” Julius asked him.

The guy thought about that for a minute before saying, “I think that answer would depend on what you are looking for. What is your focus?”

“Combat. I am specializing in close combat but would rather have something that would fit all ranges of combat.”

“If it is combat, I would take a weapons elective. Whatever weapon you use, as long as it's not too uncommon, you can find an instructor.” Derek helpfully informed Julius.

That was a good idea, his [Swordsmanship] skill was his lowest-level skill so far and he wanted to see what kind of evolution he would be offered, maybe even try to get a specific one that he felt would fit his needs.

“I usually use my fists, but have picked up the sword recently,” Julius said.

It appeared Derek’s group of friends were no longer talking amongst themselves and were listening in on their conversation, because the large guy interjected and said, “If you use bare hands, Professor Keller is one the best hand-to-hand combat experts in the school. I don’t know if he is doing an elective class though. He usually teaches Applied Combat to upperclassmen but sometimes decides to do both. If you want a swordsman, I would choose either Jerod Trench or Sarah Hashen. Professor Trench is more defensive and Professor Hashen teaches a more aggressive style so I would choose whatever would fit you better.”

That was a very well-thought-out answer, Julius thought, impressed at the big guy’s knowledge.

“Edgar said it better than I ever could. You can trust him, he is one of the best close-combat fighters in the school,” Derek assured Julius.

Julius looked through the list and found Sarah Hashen’s name listed under “Blade Instructor”. He mentally added that elective as one of the top ones. He was surprised to find Gabriel’s name, or rather Professor Keller’s name under “Hand-to-Hand Combat”. When they last talked Professor Keller didn’t mention him having an elective he could take, so it was unexpected.

“Isn’t Professor Keller a Senior Professor? Wouldn’t that mean that only upperclassmen can take his class?” Julius directed his question toward Edgar.

“Not if it's an elective. For electives, it is first come first serve, which is why many of the older students get here early,” Edgar told him.

“You haven’t signed up?” Julius asked.

“Oh, is his name written down for the elective?”

“Yeah, I saw his name,” Julius said while reaching over and showing Edgar the paper.

Julius saw Edgar get up immediately, grabbing his tray. The tall girl spoke up, “Right now Ed? It is already pretty late, they might be closed for the day.”

“You never know, but I don’t want to wait for tomorrow, it might be all full by then.” he turned to Julius, “If you’re interested I would recommend you come with me as well. I took Professor Keller’s elective in my second year and it was one of the best classes I have ever taken.”

Julius saw the guy’s eyes light up like it was Christmas morning. He must have really liked Gabriel’s class to be this excited.

Julius decided that we rather not risk letting the class fill up before he made his choices, if Gabriel’s class was as popular as Edgar was saying, then it was better to be safe than sorry.

Julius got up and cleaned up his tray too, he was already practically finished anyway. Edgar’s friends all said bye and Julius made sure to thank them for their help before leaving with Edgar.

The two of them left the cafeteria, heading for the admission building at a brisk pace, hoping they made it there in time.

Neither said anything for the first couple minutes, but Edgar finally broke the silence, “So what do you think of Goldencrest?”

“I have been enjoying it. So far everything has been beautiful and you guys were certainly nice.” Julius said to him.

“Yeah, the four of them are some of the nicest people on campus. There are a lot of snobby nobles running around, I am sure you will meet plenty of them in your own classes, but those four are the exception.” Edgar proudly said.

“All of them are nobles?” Julius asked.

“Yep or at least close enough. The other guy is Kyle Quincy, he is the second son of the head of the Quincy family.”

Julius had heard of the Quincy family, they were a renowned mage family, they only had the title of Baron but they were very powerful and very influential. They weren’t a house anyone wanted to mess with.

“The tall girl is Aubrey Crysalia, daughter of Fiona Crysalia, a Tier 6 powerhouse. The other girl is Lily Violet, the granddaughter of Count Violet. And you met Derek already, he is the grandson of Duke Zenith,” Edgar explained to Julius as they walked.

Julius wasn’t familiar with Fiona Crysalia but being Tier 6, though not officially a noble gave one more influence than a lot of nobles. Count Violet Julius had heard about though. Edwin had told him that House Violet had built a trading empire that impacted the entire Empire as well as Corvus and The Alliance of Morning Sun.

Duke Zenith was considered one of the strongest people in the Empire. There were rumors that he was over Tier 6, but Julius didn’t know if that was true. He was an old monster and Derek was his grandson. Julius made sure not to offend Derek in the future, otherwise his scary grandpa might drop a mountain on him.

“And you? Are you not a noble?” Julius inquired.

Edgar shook his head, “Nope. Just a commoner, those four had already known each other before coming to Goldencrest, but I made friends with them in my first year. If you are ever in trouble or just want to talk, don’t hesitate to ask any of us.”

Julius smiled, he had been having a lot of good luck lately. There was a point of time in his old life when he felt like everyone he met was an asshole or was having a bad day. Therefore, he was able to appreciate when he met kind people. So far, other than an occasional rude person he had met a lot of nice people, such as Declan, Orus, Rae, Gabriel, and now these five. It felt nice.

They finally arrived at the building and walked through the doors, hoping they weren’t too late. Julius saw a group of staff members starting to put things away, and getting ready to leave. Edgar saw the same and quickly intercepted them.

“Excuse me! Sorry!” Edgar ran up to them, getting their attention.

“I’m sorry, but we are just about to head out.” A lady apologized to them.

Julius spoke up as well, “Please, we ran here from the cafeteria mid-meal. It won’t take long I promise.”

Another man off to the side said, “What do you need help with?”

“We noticed that Professor Keller was teaching Hand-to-Hand Combat this year and wanted to fill in our schedules before there are no more spots,” Edgar explained.

The man smirked at that. “Ah, I understand your rush. There have been a lot of people already signed up…” He turned to the lady, “Jen, you can go, I will take care of these two okay?” Then he turned back to them, “How does that sound to you guys?”

They both profusely thanked the man for his help. It didn’t take that long, Edgar already knew what he was going to take, and was just adding a third elective to his schedule instead of the two he had planned on.

He also helped Julius with figuring out what times he wanted to do his mandatory classes. He advised Julius to do Physical Training first thing in the morning, then do Intro to Mana and Tier Advancement afterward, leaving Applied Combat for last. Then he chose his electives which were all after his mandatory ones. He went with Sarah Hashen’s and Gabriel’s electives. He also selected an aura control class. Julius didn't want to openly tell people he could use aura, but it was too important of a skill not to take a class on. Plus, it wasn't said he had to use aura to take it, so he could always lie and pretend he couldn't use aura, then practice what he learned later at night.

Edgar approved of his choices, he was a little confused about his last class, but he didn’t say anything about it. Before they went their separate ways, Edgar told Julius to stop by their table whenever he felt like it. Julius told him he would and made sure to thank Edgar for his help.