Path to Transcendence

Sarah POV

Sarah sent another mana bolt toward her target. She had been trying very hard to improve the power of her attacks but was having a hard time. She hadn't increased the level of [Mana Bolt] in quite some time.

What am I doing wrong?

The others weren't having quite the same problems as her. All of them were improving quite well. Even Scott, no matter how annoying he could be, had improved a lot in these past few months.

It was hard not to know, considering that the boy had been bragging to everyone about it. He kept on saying that the next time the Razor Wind Sect came along they would be begging for him to join.

She didn't want to admit it, but there was a good chance he wasn't just blowing empty air. The boy was most likely the strongest out of them. If anyone had a chance, it would be him.

However, joining a sect wasn't a part of Sarah's goals. She was planning to join the Adventurer's Guild once she was old enough. Her parents had been adventurers and she was planning to follow in their footsteps.

Not at this rate though.

She had a high water affinity, but everyone knew that water mages were weaker than other mages such as fire mages at lower tiers. That was the reason why she had chosen to get the [Mana Bolt] skill. It would allow her to hit a little bit harder than some of her water skills did.

So far, it had been slow progress and she couldn't help but doubt her initial plan. However, she was determined to show everyone that she could do it.

So she sent another [Mana Bolt] at the target, trying her best to channel as much mana into it.

As she did that, she couldn't help but notice Elder Han approaching from the distance. Alongside, the old caretaker was a boy around their age.

I think I remember seeing him at dinner earlier. Another orphan maybe? He is going to join us in training?

"Everyone, come and gather around!" Elder Han called out to them all. All of the kids stopped what they were doing and came on over.

Although Elder Han was usually a gentle grandpa to them, he could be surprisingly commanding when he wanted to. It wasn't like Sister Cathy either, Elder Han was loved by everyone, regardless of their age. He was the one they ran to when they were trying to hide from Sister Cathy.

"Who's the new kid?" Scott brashly asked.

"This is Julius. He's not an orphan but I asked him here to give you guys some help," Elder Han explained with his typical smile, like there was something they didn't know.

Sarah had been around since she was six years old, so she knew what that smile meant. The others would have too if they cared to pay attention.

Scott obviously didn't notice or care. "What?! How's a kid our age going to teach us anything?" The boy exclaimed.

Finn, the more polite of the two also spoke up. "I agree, no offense Elder Han, but why bring us a boy who can't be older than us to teach us things?"

Elder Han gave them that same smile. "Because you guys have been getting cocky lately."

"No, we haven't! We have just been getting stronger, so it's natural that our attitudes will change with it!" Scott argued.

"Oh ho? You think so?"

"Definitely! I have been working hard, there is no way some pampered brat is going to beat me," Scott boldly declared.

"That sounds like a challenge," Elder Han commented. It sounded like he was expecting something like this. Sarah had a weird feeling in her gut.

"Damn right, it is!"

"How does that sound Julius? Would you be willing to fight him?" The old man asked the boy next to him.

Sarah took the time to finally get a good look at the newcomer. He was decently tall for his age, and he was wearing some baggy clothing so it was hard to tell if he was muscular or thin, but his eyes were what drew her in.

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There was a weird sparkle in them that distracted her.

Probably just the light playing tricks, she told herself.

The boy ran his hand through his black hair, showing his somewhat attractive features. He wasn't overly handsome like Scott, but he had his own sort of charm.

"Why do I think you were expecting this, old man?" The boy asked, his voice deeper than she had been expecting.

"You can never predict the youth these days," Elder Han said with a smirk.

"Well, are we going to fight or not?" Scott asked sharply. Finn, who was next to Scott, gave the other boy a hard elbow as if telling him to be nicer.

The black-haired boy gave a calm look at Scott. "Sure, I don't have any problems with that."

She watched as Julius and Scott both walked toward the empty area where they often had mock fights.

Scott picked up a wooden sword that was lying on a rack and tossed one to Julius.

"Here, we fight until the first crippling blow, alright?"

"That's good by me," the new boy stated evenly.

Scott didn't wait for much longer and went onto the offensive right away. Sarah observed Scott's patent fire augmentation skill activate and his speed increased dramatically.

Ah, he's going all out from the start, she thought to herself with a frown.

However, she was surprised to witness the new boy take this all in with a passive face. He calmly and easily deflected all of Scott's swings with a quick flick of his wrist. His feet barely moved from their place, using just a single hand to parry.

A quick pivot or a sudden backstep was all he needed in order to defend himself from Scott's attacks.

She noticed Scott grow increasingly frustrated as none of his usual attacks worked on this new boy. His annoyance started to show through his fighting.

It was one of his biggest weaknesses, in Sarah's humble opinion. They had all repeatedly told him that, but the rash boy didn't care. He just used his frustration to power his blows, making them faster and stronger, but also more predictable.

Julius seemed to come to this understanding as well. As he casually fended off Scott's offensive surge, he spoke to the other boy. "Anger has its uses. But blind rage won't get you anywhere," he gently rebuked the other boy.

Scott replied, in the only way she knew he would, he attacked harder.

Sarah saw the new boy just sigh. Rather than keep on defending, she watched as the boy dropped his sword without a care in the world into the dirt.

As Scott sent a furious overhanded strike, Julius stepped calmly to one side, the wooden blade passing down his body. He stepped into Scott's guard and sent a single punch into the other boy's stomach.

A grimace of pain flashed through Scott's face, but credit to him, he didn't allow it to affect him that much. He brought his wooden sword back around and backhanded a slash at the now weaponless boy.

This didn't seem to matter to Julius. He used one hand to clamp down on the forearm of Scott, gave it a sharp twist, and forced the other boy to let go of his weapon.

The now weaponless Scott backed up and had a furious expression on his face. He was holding his arm in pain but kept looking at the sword that was on the ground with desperate eyes.

Scott launched himself toward Julius with a tackle, which the other boy avoided with ease, but Sarah was shocked to see that Scott hadn't been planning to take down the other boy in the first place. He had been trying to retrieve his sword.

Unfortunately for Scott, unlike Sarah, Julius had not been fooled. The new boy stretched out his foot and poked the sword just out of Scott's reach. As Scott tried to lunge further for his sword, Julius stomped down on his ankle, preventing him from doing so.

No matter how he struggled, Scott wasn't able to remove the leg from his ankle.

With a sigh of exasperation, the new boy released his hold and walked away with his hands in his pockets, clearly demonstrating that the fight was over.

Scott unfortunately, didn't seem to understand that the fight was already well beyond lost. Whether it was his anger or stupidity that kept him going, she didn't know. However, once Scott struggled in the dirt and got a hold of his sword, he lept back to both feet. He then ran at the boy who had his back turned to Scott.

Sarah was about to cry out a warning, but she was too late. Scott swung a powerful blow at the unprotected head of the other boy. Even though it was a wooden sword, it was wood that was much stronger than normal wood. If it connected, it could do some real damage.

However, somehow Julius seemed to have eyes on the back of his head, because he tilted his head down at the perfect moment, avoiding the sword, pivoted, and sent a front kick at Scott's chest. It was so casual and fluid that she couldn't help but gasp in awe.

She wasn't that talented in close combat or had any skill in striking techniques, but she practiced enough with the others to realize that was something that only could be pulled off with many countless hours of practice. The flexibility and footwork that was demonstrated was very impressive.

This wasn't like any other of his attacks either. This one had some power behind it. She heard a loud thump and the sound of all of the air gushed out of the Scott's chest before he was sent flying head over foot into a rack of wooden weapons with a loud crash.

Scott didn't make any moves to get up but she wouldn't be surprised to learn if the boy was completely unconscious and had broken ribs for his stupid decision. Attacking someone like that from behind was too far, even for Scott.

Julius just walked over to where Scott remained lying down, hands still in his pockets, and stared at the boy with a disappointed and irritated glare.

Although Julius's attention wasn't on her or the other kids, for some reason Sarah suddenly found it difficult to breathe. It was like the time when they had faced a Tier 2 monster for their very first hunt. She knew at that moment that there was no doubt that the boy could have hit Scott harder than he did. Furthermore, she couldn't help but feel nervous about what the new boy was going to do to Scott for his actions.