Path to Transcendence
Chapter 154: Passion

Julius crashed his fist against the nimble wolf. He could practically see the surprise from the wolf as his knuckle covered in spikes obliterated the wolf's jaw.

It was blasted away with a high-pitched whine and Julius was quickly swarmed by the rest of the wolves. There were too many to block each attack, so he focused on the ones within his reach while ignoring the rest.

He had [Barrier of Severance] active along with his armor which protected him from most of the damage that he took. It probably did more damage to the wolves than they were doing to him.

The vicious snarling of the wolves didn't bother him, he had [Sage of Savagery] active and he was deadly calm. However, the skill also touched on some of the more primal aspects of himself. There was a hint of savagery behind his eyes and he felt a little more invigorated than he did under the influence of [Savage Dance].

He matched the wolves ferocity and more. He was a never-ending storm of offense, using liberal pulses of fire and kinetic energy to blast and burn the wolves around him. Whenever they tried to pin him down, he would direct the flying spikes he was still controlling to ram into the wolves.

It was very effective, the wolves who were so distracted by the close combat brawl didn't notice the flying spikes of death until they were too late. While Julius got caught up in the explosion a little bit, his ability to control kinetic energy and fire helped him absorb much of the force and even reuse the mana to keep his armor fueled.

After a minute, he had injured many of the wolves, but the rest were in a frenzy and were even faster than before. Luckily, they had no technique. Their speed almost rivaled Edgar's and would have been an issue if they knew how to actually fight. But they were just going off of pure animalistic instinct.

However, it was fun. He was having a blast. For the first time in a while, he felt the pressure of a real fight. It made him grin widely. Thankfully, nobody could see it underneath his helm. If they had, they would have suspected Julius of being mentally deranged for smiling as a pack of powerful wolves assaulted him.

Still, he allowed himself to enjoy this moment. Sparring was fun and all, but there wasn't any danger to it, not for Julius. He knew that the person he was fighting didn't want to hurt him.

But these wolves were very much set on killing Julius. He was pretty confident of that.

Every move he made resulted in him striking a wolf. It felt like there were endless amounts of wolves, although he knew that there were only around eighteen of them.

They didn't care that his barrier was cutting apart their limbs and mouths. Either way, they just tried their best to maul his skin from his face.

He would rather avoid that if possible. He liked his face. It wasn't the most handsome face, but it was his face and he would protect it.

That was also a good reason why any wolf that lunged toward his face got some special attention. He made sure to give whatever wolf was daring enough to try to bite off his face a strike with a little more care.

It was chaos and he loved every second of it.

He felt one of the wolves latch onto the joint around his knee with its jaw, using some sort of aura-based skill to crush his leg. The joint was a little more weak than the other sections of his armor. It was a concession he had to make if he wanted something that was flexible.

He did the first thing that came to mind. He exploded it.

He made sure to direct all of the energy outward so that the wolf that was latched on took an explosion that was on the same level as his spikes right down its throat.

Safe to say that their mouths had much less protection than their bodies. The wolf's entire head popped like an overfed mosquito. It was simultaneously cool and disgusting.

He had made sure to create another thinner layer underneath before he exploded it, so when the dust cleared, the armor was replaced like nothing happened.

Then he continued tearing apart the wolves with his two hands and two feet.

While the wolves were still monsters, they had some intelligence. Eventually, there was an opening that Julius left open. It was unavoidable when it came to fighting.

The wolves' instincts jumped on it the moment it showed itself. Three of their members sacrificed themselves to fully distract him. They knew that leaving themselves would mean their deaths, but to them, it was worth it if their pack survived. He felt their resolve echo outward with his Concept.

It would have been a touching emotion if not for them trying to eat him. He pushed down any pity he had for them out of the way. He wouldn't get distracted by stuff like that anymore. He had a better understanding of his goals and what he would need to do to accomplish it.

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Julius sensed Declan off to the side looking on worriedly, he could practically feel the man's feet twitching to run and save him from the suicide attack.

He appreciated the thought, but he wanted to show that Declan didn't have anything to worry about. He heard himself subconsciously let loose a loud laugh in excitement and realized that he had been laughing the entire time.

He blushed in embarrassment under his helm. I probably sound like a crazed person, Julius thought to himself.

He didn't let himself get too distracted though.

The wolves who had left themselves open got a spike right through their throat as a reprisal. And their friends who didn't allow their sacrifice go in vain, crunched down on his armor. He felt his armor cut apart their mouths, but they didn't care. All they cared about was tearing him into pieces.

Two particularly large wolves managed to get their jaws around the joint on his elbow and using a lot of wind mana, they overloaded their strike and broke through his armor. It caused the two wolves to sustain a lot of damage in their own mouths, but it was worth it to them. They did their jobs.

They backed off, nursing their wounds, and two new ones leaped toward his exposed flesh. But he allowed them to. While they were doing that he was putting down three other wolves who were harassing him for good. A brutal smash with his spiked gauntlets eviscerated the wolves' faces and the pistons he created on his feet crushed the chests of the others.

Afterward, he put his attention back to his arm. The wolves who latched onto his arm ripped it apart. The durability of his skin wasn't even close to the level of his construct armor and was torn apart like wet paper.

However, he didn't care. The pain was present, but he knew that he didn't need to be worried. The wolves were wasting their time. He maneuvered the construct around the rest of his arm to slither down and wrap around the distracted wolves.

Once they realized what was happening, it was too late. Julius manipulated the mana and compressed the construct around the wolves like a python. But instead of just constricting them, he deployed sharpened spikes and pierced the wolves.

Then with a quick mental command, the construct compacted them like garbage, the spikes spearing into them and tearing them apart in a splatter of blood.

He sent a big blast of kinetic energy that he had been accumulating and blasted the wolves nearest to him in a spray of blood, giving him a second to reset.

He sent a burst of mana through his healing skill and his arm was regenerated within a second. It was like new, other than the old burn scars that still hadn't healed, his skin was flawless. Then just as quickly a new layer of armor covered his exposed flesh with a surge of mana.

The other wolves who were still alive looked on at Julius who just healed before their very eyes. They weren't the smartest creatures, but seeing their opponent heal with a blink was not a good sign, even they could realize that.

He saw it within their eyes. These wolves were beginning to feel scared, he could practically smell the fear that emanated from their aura. It was palpable.

Still, they weren't cowards and after a brief pause, the rest of the pack swarmed him again.

However, during this time Julius had been creating more spikes around him. By the time they reached him, he had created well over a dozen very strong and very deadly violet-colored spikes that were floating above him.

He then tried out something new. He jumped as high as he could, using as much kinetic energy as he could. The force blasted him straight into the air. Once he was over several dozen feet in the air, he sent the entire bombardment of spikes raining down on the wolves.

There was a bright flash and a deafening boom. The entire ground within fifty paces exploded into flames. After the shockwave was finished, there was an eerie silence that enveloped the field.

He fell from the sky and when he landed, turned to look at Declan who was staring at the destruction with a look of awe.

***

Declan POV

He looked at the field of tall grass and then at the large crater that stood at the center of it. Then he turned to look at the softly falling boy who was responsible for it.

As the boy touched upon the scorched dirt, his intimidating armor swirled and the mana that made it up was sucked into a single point over his shoulders as an orb. The orb itself was positively pulsing with barely restrained power.

Julius was no longer laughing like a madman, but he did wear a satisfied smile on his face. It was like he was injected with a thousand days worth of sleep. He calmly walked around the scorched bodies of the wolves and occasionally sent a small dart of mana from the orb to the few remaining wolves who were alive. Not that it mattered, the wolves wouldn't live to see another minute, it was a mercy killing and he was sure that Julius understood that as well.

Then suddenly, the violet flames that were softly flickering around the grass, burning the surrounding area, were pulled back to Julius. Declan felt another prickling with his Authority. It was the feeling of another Concept.

It wasn't the Sharpness Concept or the Will Concept that he had felt before. But it was different. This one was a Fire Concept.

He laughed out loud. This boy not only had two Concepts, but even a third one.

It wasn't just that either. If that was all the boy had, then Declan would think of him as an immensely talented boy, but that would be it. He had heard of scions and geniuses found in the gutters who also had similar talents for comprehending Concepts. In fact, he knew a boy who had learned a Concept of Water just by seeing a lake for the first time.

There were many unknown geniuses in the world. But it was rare for this level of comprehension talent to be paired with Julius's other talents. The boy was dangerous, in a good way though.

The way he fought was what set him apart from the other geniuses in his opinion. Declan didn't sense a hint of panic or fear from the boy's aura the entire fight. Not when they swarmed him and not even when they tore apart his arm. He was composed and most importantly, he clearly enjoyed it.

There were many strong people in the Empire, but the ones who stood above the rest always had one thing that the others didn't.

Passion.

Some would rather call it craziness but at the end of the day, it was their dedication and passion that got them to the top.

And when he looked at Julius and his big blinding smile, something told him that wasn't a thing the boy was lacking. He just hoped his own passion wasn't the thing that broke him.