Julius found himself feeling very satisfied with how things were going despite his initial misgivings. He had been half expecting there to be so kind of conflict; however, it ended up with him gaining so valuable information as well as so unusual exercises that he was very curious to try.
His fire had always been powerful, but if he was being honest, it felt very one-dinsional. She criticized that quite vocally as well. It carried a lot of explosive power and heat, but he felt like he sotis wasted its potential when he bottled it up into a construct.
From what Cassandra had been explaining to him, it wouldn’t be a bad idea to let his flas have a little more freedom. According to her, fire was a very free-spirited elent, and the fact that he essentially only used it for making constructs might hinder his progress with it.
He hadn’t thought of it that way before, but he could certainly see the reasoning behind it, especially when he listened to her explanations. He had been thinking about fire a little too simply and superficially. Her exercises would apparently help him grasp so of the more intricate aspects of fire as well as learn about the true essence of his fla.
He chuckled as the two of them were heading back to the others, and that got Cassandra’s attention. “What is it?”
He glanced at her and grinned mirthfully. “I realized that I have just added another thing to work on. I feel like I always have ten things on my plate and not enough ti to focus on everything,” he admitted to her, feeling a little bit of trust toward her even though he had only t her less than an hour ago.
He knew that she had her own special reasons for providing him with as much information as she did. But he also felt like she had gone well beyond what she needed to do if she simply wanted to get in his good graces. She seed like a good person, and he wouldn’t mind being her friend.
“That is a good problem to have and is a wonderful lesson the people of my sect could learn from. I have to constantly remind people of my sect that there are many things they could be working on at all tis. But instead, they always spend their ti being suprely impressed at their own abilities,” she said with an exasperated droop of her shoulders.
He laughed good naturedly. “I admittedly have done the latter as well,” he admitted with a grin.
She smiled at him and gave a rueful shake of her head.
Julius walked up to Cain and Freya, who were talking with the two young people, with a frown. Although they were interacting with Cain and Freya, for so reason, the children his age looked like they were dealing with a ticking ti bomb; their faces were tense and a little pale.
He didn’t know why they would be so nervous around Cain and Freya. It wasn’t like… he stopped himself when he spotted the man who Cain had brutally beaten half to death off in the corner of the room.
Actually, on second thought, I see a possible reason, Julius thought to himself with a nod.
“Are you two done with your little discussion?” Freya asked him curiously.
“Yeah, I learned so excellent information and she even showed so interesting exercises for my fire,” he said happily.
“You taught my apprentice exercises?” Cain suddenly interrupted, asking Cassandra in a warning tone.
Julius quickly threw a ball of fla at the man, simultaneously scolding Cain as well as trying to implent so of Cassandra’s ideas. “Yeah, she has, and you should be grateful considering that you haven’t helped with my fire despite it being one of my primary affinities,” Julius pointed out.
Cain deflated. “It’s not my fault, I am not an expert about fire,” he muttered.
Cassandra, who had tensed up when Cain spoke up, slowly relaxed her shoulders.
“I deeply apologize for overextending my boundaries. I was being careless and didn’t even think about how it might be interpreted,” she said with a tilt of her head.
Freya was the one who shook her head. “Don’t worry about it. My husband just likes to complain since he is an incompetent teacher,” she said.
Cain audibly scoffed. “I am an excellent teacher. I don’t know if you rember this small detail, dear wife, but I run a school.”
“You teach one class every blue moon,” she said dismissively.
Cain gasped and grabbed his chest dramatically. “How dare you!”
Freya ignored her husband. “So I assu that we are all good?” She asked the Vice Sect Leader.
“Yeah, we are all good. Once again, I apologize for my son’s actions. I will make sure he reflects properly on his actions,” Cassandra said with a dark glance at the corner where her son was hiding.
“If you want to contact or if you just want to watch the tournant from here, just let know,” she added and handed each of them a piece of paper.
“What’s this?” Julius asked as he examined the plain piece of paper.
“That will allow you to contact when you infuse mana into it. Just be warned that it is a one-ti use item, but it will reach no matter the distance,” she explained.
Julius pocketed the piece of paper with a grateful nod. “I appreciate it. Hopefully, we will see each other again before the tournant ends.”
She nodded with a smile.
***
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Cassandra POV
As she watched the three of them leave the room, she glowered at her son. He couldn’t even look her in the eyes; he simply stared at his feet. She walked over and, before he could realize what was happening, she snatched him by the throat, lifting him into the air.
Her anger, which she had been restraining, was finally letting itself out.
“You are extrely fortunate that your recklessness worked out today,” she softly hissed at her son while he struggled in her hand.
She was angry at him, but on the other hand, if not for his stupidity, she would have likely not have t young Julius, so despite her wanting to strangle him until he blacked out, she held back and released him. He hit the ground like a bag of sand.
It was only then that Adrian lifted his gaze. “So does that an you aren’t sending to Scorched Wastelands?” He asked with eyes full of hope.
She scoffed. “No, you are going there whether you like it or not. I don’t care what your father says, you almost created a disaster today, and it is only thanks to good fortune that it worked out.”
“Are they really that strong?” Shin, her grandson, asked, referring to Cain and Freya.
She looked at him, and so of her annoyance toward her idiot son faded. While the gods cursed her with Adrian, she was blessed enough that her other children weren’t all like that. They even had special children of their own, such as Shin. The boy was very talented and, if raised correctly, would be a pillar of the Burning Sun Sect.
“Yeah, they are extrely strong. I have heard of Cain Steelborn from other people; all of them said that the man was a force of nature. However, I am surprised that he was here in the capital. From what I understand, he stays in the Northern Regions of the Continent. I didn’t know that he had a wife, though. She is just as dangerous.”
“What about the boy?” Maya suddenly asked.
Cassandra turned to look at her sect's other top talent. “I am not sure, but I have already sent soone to inquire about his origins.”
“Is he strong?” Shin suddenly asked, sounding unusually uneasy.
She didn’t even bother to respond to her grandson. The answer should be obvious; soone like Cain would not choose a weak Tier 3 as an apprentice, nor would a standard Tier 3 be able to resist Adrian’s aura.
Despite her son’s misgivings and lack of personality, she admitted that he was strong and skilled even amongst Tier 5s.
Speaking of the boy, she suddenly received a ssage and went over to the door. She opened it, and a nondescript man with a covered face bowed to her. “Vice Sect Leader, it is an honor to et and serve you,” the man said with a practiced bow.
She ignored the fake pleasantries. “Do you have it?” She asked coldly.
“Yes, my lady. This is everything we have gathered on Julius Snow,” he said while passing over to her a small crystal information orb.
She took it and quickly paid the agreed-upon price, handing over a handful of Tier 5 cores. “Thank you, that will be all,” she said, dismissing the man with a wave of her hand.
However, the man wasn’t leaving for so reason.
“What is it? Do you need sothing else?” She asked flatly.
“I thought it would be neglectful of not to make you aware that this information is not quite complete,” he said with a low bow of his head.
“Oh? So I am paying for incomplete information?” She asked with a small bit of annoyance leaking through. While several Tier 5 cores weren’t that much to her anymore, it was still a hefty price for sothing “incomplete”.
“Not exactly incomplete. But there is an obvious hole in the information we gathered. It appears that Julius Snow has only been active in the past year or so. Any records of him before that are non-existent.”
“Nothing?”
“Nothing,” he confird.
She nodded and waved him off. She had gotten what she wanted and didn’t need this ssenger anymore. She didn’t want to give the man any more information than absolutely required. Information that he and his organization could sell to soone else.
When he left, she finally used so of her aura to delve into the information orb.
The man was telling the truth; there wasn’t that much about Julius Snow. Most of it was from half a year ago.
The boy had gone to Goldencrest Academy, one of the Empire’s premier institutions, and surprisingly was much younger than she estimated. He was around fifteen years old and had quickly built himself a reputation during his first year at Goldencrest.
There was a small entry about him being caught up in a transportation trap in a school rift into another Tier 3 rift on the other side of the Empire while he was still at Tier 2. He hadn’t even been the intended target either.
Surprisingly, it had been Princess Reinera herself, a girl whom Cassandra had t only several days prior. The girl was talented, so she had caught Cassandra’s eye, but also the princess of the Empire, so she didn’t have any thoughts about inviting her to the Burning Sun Sect.
The report stated that the princess had used so life-saving treasure to ensure their safety, but Cassandra had so serious doubts about that, especially since she had just seen the boy in action and t him in person. While uncommon, it wasn’t unheard of for soone to survive a Tier 3 rift as a Tier 2. The report then went on to explain that the boy, as well as the princess, had advanced to Tier 3 so ti after they had escaped the rift on their way back to Goldencrest.
Upon his return, Julius was surprisingly powerful for a Tier 3 despite advancing quite recently and beat several notable talents of the Empire. So of them, Cassandra recognized. Liam Abrams was soone who had a high chance of advancing to the final stage.
Weirdly enough, he had gotten to the finals but had mysteriously forfeited, allowing Derek Zenith, another na she recognized, to win the tournant. There was no detailed explanation for why this happened. However, the report also noted the impressive physical prowess and long-range fire attacks of Julius.
She chuckled when she read this part. She hadn’t known he was also proficient in close combat, but now it made sense why his master was Cain Steelborn of all people. She had been intrigued by why a fire mage had attracted the attention of a terrifying warrior like the Lord of the Shattered Throne.
Probably the most surprising part, though, was his friends and connections. Apparently, not only was he close friends with the princess, but also Derek Zenith, Lily Violet, Aubrey Crysalia, and Kyle Quincy.
All four of them had impressive backings; two of them were the future heirs of so of the most powerful Houses of the Empire. They weren’t just simple friends in passing, either. According to the report, they were apparently really, really close.
Additionally, there were so reports of him being friendly with several other prominent people and Houses despite his mysterious and sudden appearance.
Thankfully, she had made the right decision and reconciled with him. Cain and his wife were already scary enough, but with her needing the Empire’s help with the sect's future endeavors, making enemies of the Empire’s strongest Houses would not have done her any favors.
She glared darkly at her stupid son one last ti. Fortunately, the Burning Sun Sect had avoided a great catastrophe today, and despite the conflict, she wasn't too upset at the result. If not for that, she would be personally turning her son into ashes.
In fact, she felt like it worked out for the better. She was already thinking of the ways she could make best use of this new relationship and how close he was with the other important Houses of the Empire.
At first, she wanted to cultivate a relationship with a talented individual and hoped to invite him back to Corvus, but now things have changed dramatically. While she didn’t like to exploit personal relationships in this manner, she had to admit that befriending Julius would greatly benefit the sect. Perhaps, if she played her cards right, she might even get so help from these houses. It might even be enough to finally convince the Empire to approve of the aid she had been asking for.
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