Author's Note: Release 3/3 for the day. The next chapter will be on Wednesday. And as always, for the ones who don't mind the cliffhangers and want to wait to read them, feel free to ignore these early chapters <3
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Selene POV
It had been over several months since Julius had gone off to enter the Obsidian Vault. However, ever since their group entered the Inheritance Trial, the doors to the vault had been sealed. Nobody had been able to enter.
This led to much speculation and theorizing. One of the most prominent was that someone had finally managed to obtain whatever inheritance the Lord of Obsidian left behind. However, as far as Selene knew, nobody had been able to find out who that was. Nobody was stepping forward to claim it either. Not that she expected someone to do so in the first place.
It was smarter to hide that fact if possible. Otherwise, who knew how many sects would come chasing after you? It was already a well-known secret that almost every sect and clan in Goldmere was trying to hunt down the suspected person, even though they didn't know whether the person existed in the first place. Several powerful clans and sects outside of Goldmere were also doing the same.
The Verdant Willow Sect was one of those sects.
That being said, she was more concerned about Julius. She knew that he planned to enter the trial. But she hadn’t heard from him since he left. There were a few possibilities. One of them was that he was dead and wasn’t coming back.
Another was that he hadn’t gone to the vault in the first place and had smartly got as far away from Goldmere as possible.
The final possibility was that he was the one who inherited whatever the Lord of Obsidian left behind. But if that was the case, where did he go? Did he really run off without saying goodbye? Maybe she was being a bit unreasonable, but he didn’t come off as the type of person who’d run off without at least trying to say goodbye. Which made her wonder what happened to him.
It was possible that someone had already gotten their hands on him and was hiding it from the other powers.
She had gone searching for him discreetly, but she couldn't help but wonder if there was more she could do. And if so, what?
She was deep in thought when she heard a knock at her door. She turned and saw her uncle pop his head through the door. Arthur Verdigras didn’t look like someone’s uncle. He barely looked older than Selene herself. They could have easily been mistaken for brother and sister.
“We’re leaving in a few minutes, are you ready?” he asked, giving her messy room a brief look, and sighed. “You really should clean up a little bit.”
“I’ll clean up when I get back,” she said, rolling her eyes, and grabbed her jacket.
Ever since she messaged him about what Celestine had done to her with the Heartburst Seed, he hadn’t left her side. Normally, he avoided getting involved with her parents, but apparently, getting your niece’s chest shoved with an explosive parasite was too far even for him. For the past several months, he hadn’t allowed her to leave the house alone. He had to accompany her and was always monitoring her.
He was also quite angry about what happened. Her parents had already made a scene and complained to House Cromweld about Celestine’s actions, but nothing really happened to Celestine. It was all shoved under the rug. Selene was sure that a lot of money or something else was paid in reparations, but it wasn’t like she would see a single copper of it.
Thankfully, Arthur had taken it upon himself to come and ensure her safety. Apparently, her brother was also taken in by Arthur's wife, Marcella. The woman was a terrifying force of nature, and her brother would be safe with her.
Her parents obviously weren’t pleased by this, but forcing your own daughter to work for people who blackmailed and threatened her with something as insidious as a Heartburst Seed looked quite bad. It gave her uncle the justification to go in and protect her and her brother.
Her uncle was quite pissed, too. Despite several months already having passed, he was still furious with Celestine. He’d already gone over to her place and given her an earful a few months ago. Selene suspected that if the situation hadn’t been as delicate, or if Celestine hadn't been part of House Cromweld, she would have gotten more than just an earful. But Arthur’s own responsibilities played a part as well.
He was quite an influential member of the Verdant Willow Sect. As one of the leading members of Clan Verdigras, a founding legacy clan of the sect, his word carried a lot of weight. He was also known to be fair and just, so people tended to trust him. Unfortunately, the Verdant Willow Sect didn’t want to become hostile with a powerful noble family from the Empire. Not now, not when there was so much other stuff going on.
“Do I really have to come with you?” she asked while she touched up her makeup in the mirror.
Her uncle leaned against the doorway. “No, but it would benefit you if you got to know someone as prominent as her. You’re around the age where you’re going to have to get used to stuff like this. Not to mention, she is their house’s crown jewel and will take over in the next several years. The fact that she is allowed to lead delegations all the way out here in Corvus speaks of her house’s trust in her and her abilities.”
“So I’m going to rub elbows with this girl and the other rich people?” she clarified.
“Pretty much. Who knows, you might actually get along with her. Apparently, she’s around your age.”
Selene muttered under her breath. She doubted she would get along with these people. They were probably all like her parents and Celestine. People who would stab each other in the back just because they could. Not her sort of people.
***
Julius POV
His legendary-ranked focus skill wasn’t working as usual, but since it was a passive skill, he could use it more than some of his other skills. It helped a lot with the boredom. Almost his entire day was spent in meditation, and, thankfully, it passed very quickly. It was like taking a nap.
He chuckled to himself, realizing that he was doing something similar back at the Burning Sun Sect. Only this time, instead of being revived, he was recovering after his soul was drained by a smelly dwarf.
His injured and strained soul made the time feel weird, too. His predicament certainly made for some deep sleep, and the days went by in a breeze. He suspected that the enhancements and the array he was connected to had something to do with this as well. Otherwise, the perception of time was too odd.
Perhaps Thorik added a function that made time feel different. That or his soul was in such a disoriented state that it didn’t matter.
He had set the time dilation to the maximum he could manage. It was hard to tell the exact duration; he lost track after the first several months. He was hoping that not too much time had passed in the outside world. It would suck to finally get out, only to realize years had passed. The time dilation was indeed a small issue. He realized that it was slightly corrosive to his body and his mind. A greyish mist constantly flowed over him, but thankfully, his special body was enough to handle the side effects; he managed to balance the time dilation and his body's deterioration.
It was embarrassing to admit, but rather than the issue of his soul being drained like a dried-up corpse, he was more upset about the lack of food. With his soul in its current state, he couldn’t even use his soul-bound items. They were stuck in his soul space, and so he was left without his loving lunchbox. He hadn't thought ahead and put more food into his new ring either.
There were some ration bars he found in one of Thorik's cupboards, but that was it. And he would rather have eaten the wood floorboards than eaten those nasty little things.
Fortunately, it seemed that food and water weren't that big an issue. Sure, he was hungry, but that was mainly because he wanted to eat some cookies or something. Not because he actually needed it to survive. His body was able to fuel itself from mana and his passive healing. He also suspected the array had something to do with keeping him satiated, too.
Still, not having his lunchbox or dimensional space full of snacks was torturous.
Thankfully, after what felt like over a year of constant mediation, but could have been well more than that, he finally felt something snap into place. His passive regeneration had been slower than he wished, but after so long, he finally managed to feel the connection to his soul.
The moment his connection with his soul was restored, he was attacked by two figures. Drasil and Seraphyne flew out of his soul space and attacked him. He didn’t even get any time to react before they latched onto his face. He was overwhelmed by their flood of emotions. Even Seraphyne, who wasn’t normally very expressive, was clinging to his cheeks with her little flippers.
“Are you guys alright?” he asked, sharing all the feelings he had repressed during this long meditation period. The only thing he’d really been worried about was the two of them. He knew they were still connected to him, but he had no idea what had happened.
Drasil whistled loudly and clung tighter to his nose, rubbing his snotty face all over him.
“We were in a weird suspended state. Time didn’t flow like usual, but we knew that something had happened to you,” Seraphyne told him after she nestled closer to him, bringing herself to lie right on top of his head.
“A suspended state?”
“Yeah, it wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t pleasant either. It was very boring and unnerving.”
He reached up and gently rubbed her shell. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have accepted his offer. I should have left right away.”
“No, there wasn’t anything you could do. I don’t think he was about to let you leave even if you said no,” she stated and softly rustled his hair with her flipper.
Drasil cooed and whistled, using his one free arm to gesture wildly as he tried to talk to him.
“Yeah, I’m good. The pain isn’t bad. I’ve been waiting to reestablish the connection to my skills. Are you guys okay, though? No damage or effects?”
Drasil shook his head and nuzzled into Julius’s face, sending large amounts of life mana into him and his soul. The sudden rush of life mana was quite relieving. Despite the pain not being bad, there was a constant pressure on his soul and on his aura. He also finally activated his healing skill for the time in what felt like forever.
It was like waking up a furious dragon. Every speck of fire and life mana in his body exploded outward. He controlled it, though, so that neither Drasil nor Serphyne was hurt. But the power was intense, so he directed most of it straight into his soul.
[Phoenix Incarnate] was already a powerful skill, and after being dormant for so long, he suspected that it was stretching its legs. His soul ignited with the power of the phoenix aspected skill and with the support of Drasil, his soul, which had been gradually and slowly healing itself, bloomed.
He thought he would need more time to acclimate to the change, but something had shifted, and he could feel his soul healing at an unprecedented rate. It was insane how quickly his soul was recovering, especially compared to the rate it had been healing during this long period. He had a feeling that it had to do with his recent soul evolution.
It was hard to tell what had happened when it first evolved, but the changes were becoming more obvious. It was clear that his soul was more flexible and resilient than ever before. Now that [Phoenix Incarnate] was activated, it was snapping right back into place.
Not just that, but it was getting stronger with every passing second. Before he forgot, he tried to access his dimensional storage and removed his lunchbox. He let out a loud cry of relief as he held the precious item in his hands. He’d never been more glad to see it than he was at this moment.
He opened the lunchbox and gasped when he examined the inside. It changed a lot.
The outside was still beat up, the paint was still faded, and the phoenix still looked more like a grumpy old chicken. But the interior had become massive. His soul evolution must have influenced it, after all, it was supposed to be a growth-type item. It had been spatially enhanced, and the options were glorious.
Rows of every kind of pastry lined one side, and another had several choices of roasted meats. Another had a selection of sandwiches and other treats. It was quite an astonishing sight, and he wasn’t the only one excited to see this.
Both Drasil and Seraphyne were leaning over his shoulders, drooling onto the lunchbox. He felt both of them urgently tap him on the head and knew exactly what they were asking for.
He was already thinking of the same idea, and so he quickly removed his blanket from his dimensional space and set up a nice little picnic. He picked up a couple of cookies and started to hand-feed both Drasil and Seraphyne. They didn’t hold back and almost took off his fingers in their excitement.
Then he took a bite of his own cookie and almost cried with joy before savoring each bite as if it would be his last.