Path to Transcendence

Once he figured they were far enough away and there was nobody nearby, he struck.

He blitzed in as fast as he could, while simultaneously activating his new technique with as much vigor as he could manage. He didn't want to take the chance that she had a stronger will and allow her an opportunity to do something. He had learned his lesson since the last time he almost died.

Luckily, it seemed it was unneeded, her will was crushed under his will with such force, that he felt her aura let out a screech of pain.

It was actually pretty likely that she was already done for, but he wasn't taking any chances.

By the time he appeared in front of her with a [Flash Step], he was already preparing an armored fist loaded with kinetic energy. Without hesitating, he blasted the woman right in the nose, crunching her face in.

She fell like a puppet with her strings cut and as he stood over her unconscious body, he had to keep his thoughts from straying.

Although he had told himself to treat her like he would a man in her position, he might have hit her a bit too hard. Unlike with the guards, he didn't want to risk her waking up too early, so he made sure he hit her enough to keep her out for a while.

She was a Tier 3 and if he didn't, it was likely that her heightened regeneration would heal her before Julius was done freeing Reinera so he wanted to be sure. You know what they said, better safe than sorry.

He checked her vitals and was glad that she was still breathing, but she breathing weirdly.

It was like the sound a clogged vacuum would make when there was too much hair stuck in the container. It was probably the blood seeping into her nose.

Still, he did his best to ignore her plight. He had a job he needed to do and a princess to save. So with one hand he flipped her around and tried to search her pockets for the item he sensed her using to leave the barrier.

There wasn't much in her pockets, but he eventually came up with a small orb.

Up close, he was able to feel the passive hum of mana it released, and it was identical to the one he felt being used to access the barrier.

Feeling confident he had what he needed, he stood up and stashed the orb in his pocket.

He also took the woman's mask for good measure. While it was just a plain black mask, it would still help him blend in better if he ran across anyone.

He put it on after he gave it a quick rinse and dry, subtly noting how itchy it was.

After he finished fiddling with it, he looked down at the woman one last time before he left and winced. He had frozen her with kinetic energy as he blasted her with the full brunt of his willpower.

While the fist to the face hadn't helped matters, he was actually less concerned about her caved-in face, and more worried about her soul.

He felt something integral to her being cracked by that attack.

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Giving her one last glance, he started to head back toward the abandoned warehouse with a determined step.

***

Reinera POV

The man had returned. Unlike last time, he didn't seem to be as willing to let her silence go without punishment.

It wasn't like he was torturing her, but he pressed his considerable aura down onto her.

Still, using a Tier 4's aura to press down on her was like a Tier 2 putting their feet down on a puppy's chest. There was nothing she could do but hold her breath.

"Who are you? And who are your parents?" He asked again, still talking in the same gentle tone.

She just gave him an indifferent glare once more.

He turned up his aura a little bit more. And this time, her brows furrowed from the sheer pressure. "The sooner you tell me, the sooner I can help you reunite with your family," he promised in a silky voice. One that had her wanting to believe him.

Still, she kept her tongue quiet.

"Okay. If that's how it's going to be, then I will give you two choices. Choice number one is that you remain silent. However, since we won't be able to figure out which family to contact in order to get your ransom, we will have to do something else with you," he said ominously. "Or the second choice, which is by far the better of the two choices, is to tell us who your family is and we contact them. After some exchange of funds, we hand you over to them with no harm to you."

She remained silent for a long while.

In the end, he didn't lash out or hit her, he just nodded and made his way to leave. "I will give you the night to think about it. Let me know what you choose tomorrow morning, okay?" He said politely.

Even though he was the one holding her hostage, the fact that he hadn't made any moves to harm her so far was better than most criminals would have been.

It made her believe that this man wasn't just your normal citizen who turned into a criminal. This man was calm and competent. His aura and the fact that he was able to reach Tier 4 displayed more than enough for Reinera. She had seen some powerful auras from many of her family's retainers, and this man was no worse than any of them.

She had difficulty believing a man like this was working for a criminal organization that kidnaps noble born. Sure, the money must have been good, but she doubted he would find it difficult for some noble family, sect, or some other established power to take him in if he wanted to.

There had to be a reason why he was here. Maybe if she figured out why, she would be able to convince him to let her go.

***

Julius POV

His worries about the access orb only working for the woman were unfounded. He was able to easily slip past the barrier without anyone noticing him.

As he was stealthily moving down one of the hallways, he reached out with his perception skill.

Now that he was inside of the barrier, it didn't seem to restrict [Spatial Perception], so that was a stroke of good luck. It made avoiding the people much easier.

There were many rooms in this warehouse. Most of them he realized were for storage. There were things from furniture to food, to other random crap shoved in wooden boxes. He ignored these rooms for now and made his way deeper into the warehouse.

However, the deeper he got, the more people he began sensing. There was a small group in one room, almost all of them seemed pretty sloshed.

They didn't even have their masks on anymore, they were just swinging a bottle of liquor in one hand as they sang drunkenly. It would have been a heartwarming sight if not for them being kidnappers.

Still, he had not sensed Reinera yet. So he continued his way onward, passing by rooms occupied by sleeping figures, some of whom weren't exactly sleeping yet as they were doing other things.

Eventually, he came across a door that led downstairs.

Well, if this doesn't look like a place to hide a prisoner, then I don't know what to say.

He carefully climbed downstairs and as he reached out with his skill, he was able to pick up several people all within a room of their own. The rooms were completely made out of some sort of stone and had a huge bar that locked them inside.

It appears that Reinera isn't the only one who is being kidnapped.

After some closer examination, he was able to figure out which room held her. There were no enchantments to prevent him from sensing through it.

At the back of the cellar, there was a lone room where he sensed her lying down on a bed.

Now the problem is how I am going to get her out of here.

He extended his mana senses beforehand, he didn't want to accidentally activate some sort of alarm.

And he was glad that he did, the moment he touched the stone with his mana senses, he was able to see that there were subtle enchantments on the door. He didn't know what they did, but he could tell they weren't there to help him.

Also, since they were so discreet, it was likely that they weren't there just to strengthen the stone. There was probably a whole lot of stuff that would activate if he tried to break open the door.

Realizing that he couldn't just blast it open, he stepped back and began to think.

However, as he did, he felt someone appear in his senses. The thick stone of the cellar made it hard for him to get an accurate picture of what was happening above, but he was able to detect someone walking down the stairs.

He quickly looked around for someplace to hide and spotted a pile of crates in the corner. He quietly moved behind them and waited for the person to come down.

The first thing he noticed though was the man's aura. It wasn't completely suppressed, but it was handled with a firm grasp of control. Furthermore, this man was at least Tier 4, there was no doubt.

He tried not to feel too nervous, though it was hard not to.

He had not been expecting a person this powerful to be around here. Elder Han said that the people of importance should be staying at the lord's manor, but it was obvious he was wrong. This man wasn't some random bum watching the prisoners.

He held his breath as the man headed toward his direction.

However, just when he thought the man wouldn't notice him, the man spoke.

"There's no need to hide," he said in a very soothing voice. It was the type of voice that would lull one to sleep.

Unfortunately, in Julius's case, he wasn't trying to fall asleep, he was trying to hide. Something he was apparently massively failing at.

"I know you're behind those crates," the man said after a brief pause.

Who knows, he might be talking about some other person hiding behind the crates, he thought to himself optimistically.

"I'm not talking about another person."

What is he? A mind reader?

"You could have been," Julius called out from behind the crates. There was no reason to keep on hiding, the man had obviously seen through it. He stood up and finally got a look at the man who had caught him.

He surprisingly, wasn't wearing a mask. However, his features didn't match his voice at all. While his voice was smooth, this guy looked more rugged. He was still very handsome, as Julius realized came from being a higher-tiered individual, but he had more of a good-looking fireman type of vibe.

"Why are you here?" The man asked him.

Julius shrugged his shoulders. "You took my friend."

"The brown-haired one?"

He nodded. "You think you could allow me to just take her and we can forget about all of this?"

He saw the man hesitate at that, a look of uncertainty washed over the man's face.

"I can't do that," he finally said with a hint of regret.

He was at least hesitant about it, Julius noted to himself.

"Why not? You don't seem like a guy who wants to kidnap little girls," Julius told him.

"I don't like this any more than you do, but I can't. I owe someone a favor and no matter how disgusting I may find it, I won't just break my promise," the man said sternly.

Julius looked over at the cell that was holding Reinera and back to the man. "Well, I can't say that I agree with your morals, but I am going to get my friend out of here no matter what I have to do," he warned the man. Which he bet the man was thinking was pretty funny.

A Tier 2 like Julius didn't just go around threatening Tier 4s. Julius suspected the only reason the man gave him the courtesy to give himself up was that he was Tier 2.

Although he might come to regret that decision. No matter how polite this man was to him, he wasn't going to let him keep his food bestie in that cell.