Path to Transcendence

Julius watched the creature's remnants disappear into particles of light and let out a tired sigh.

That had been more difficult than he first thought when he planned to take on this Challenge Rift. He had really underestimated how dangerous it was.

But in the end, he still came out on top so it was worth it.

Tenth Wave completed… Congratulations, you have completed the Challenge with superior marks. Please wait as your reward is generated…

He couldn't hold back the smile that overtook his face as he read the message. After what seemed to be forever, he had completed this Challenge Rift.

Furthermore, it seemed he did so with 'superior' marks. Which led him to believe he would be getting something good out of this.

He felt like he had done more than enough to be rewarded with something useful.

Suddenly, he felt himself get wrapped in some sort of mana but he didn't panic. It was a familiar sensation he had felt a couple of times by now. A swift jerk and he found himself standing in the same room that had the red button to start the Challenge. Only this time there was no pedestal.

The notification had told him to wait for his reward to be generated and so that was exactly what he did.

He created a mana chair and took out some food to snack on while he waited because he was starving. All of that fighting really made a man hungry.

While he was munching he looked over the notifications he got during the fight.

[Armaments of the Arcane lvl 9 -> lvl 10]

[Sage of Savagery lvl 8 -> lvl 9] Read exclusive content at My Virtual Library Empire

[Phoenix Renewal lvl 5 -> lvl 6]

[Flash Step lvl 11 -> lvl 13]

[Scorching Empowerment lvl 1 -> lvl 4]

He gained a whole bunch of levels in his epic skills which was nice to see. These skills were so much harder to level up than his other skills. Even if he used them quite often.

Seeing the two levels in [Flash Step] was nice to see. It was actually one of the more difficult rare skills to level because it wasn't directly connected to any of his affinities. But that was what Gabriel had warned him when he chose it so it wasn't that surprising.

Still, he couldn't help but wait until he could acquire the teleportation version, [Instantaneous Step]. He believed that would be an excellent skill to have. Or perhaps if he was lucky, he would get another teleportation skill as an upgrade option.

The one thing he was disappointed to see was that he had not gotten a notification about merging [Kinetic Augmentation] and [Scorching Empowerment].

He knew it was unlikely but he had really been hoping that he would be able to get the option to do so after this fight.

He guessed that he was being slightly too optimistic.

Merging two different affinity-based body enhancement skills was notoriously difficult. There was a reason only talented people like Edgar and others were able to do so.

It would seem it would not be so easy.

But that had been within expectations. Richard had many discussions with him about what he should be looking to get from this Challenge Rift.

Richard and Rebecca had agreed that there were a couple of items that both Reinera and Julius should look for.

One of them was a growth-type item. Those were always useful and highly sought after. Many people in the upper tiers still used the growth item they got when they were in Tier 3. It was something that could stand by him for years to come. Thus, if he was offered something nice, he would definitely consider it.

The other item that Richard recommended Julius keep an eye out for was a reward called a Skill Combination Token.

This token could apparently have two skills that would otherwise be complicated or difficult to merge on his own. Which would make it perfect for his situation.

But the man also heavily emphasized that Julius should not take it unless it was a token of high or exceptional quality.

Apparently, some tokens the Words of the World offered were average or middle quality. And while it would not be the worst thing to take. Richard believed that Julius would be able to get a better version with time and hard work.

However, a high-quality token was something that would merge his skills in the most optimal way. Something that even with a lot of hard work and time, Julius might still not be able to replicate on his own.

There were a few other things he should keep an eye out for, but they weren't as amazing.

He did hope that his natural talent would have allowed him to merge his two body skills on his own though. Sadly his relatively lower affinity compared to Edgar's might have worked against him in this case.

After all, he didn't have any exceptional or perfect affinities like many of his friends did. He was a poor boy who merely had some high affinities.

Just as he was bemoaning his talent and comforting himself by shoving food into his mouth, he got a notification.

Evaluating difficulty…

Hard difficulty selected.

Challenge Rift reward generating… Successful.

You may select one of the options…

Skill Combination Token (Pinnacle Grade)

Gauntlets of Kinetic Phoenix (Growth-Type)

Superior Rare Skill (Kinetic Affinity-Based)

Concept Manual

Familiar Evolution Token

Julius was a bit stunned and bewildered at the same time. Not only had he gotten five different options to choose from, but some of them were way out of his expectations.

He had expected a Skill Combination Token, but instead of a high or exceptional grade like Richard told him to choose, he was offered a token that was a pinnacle grade. He had no idea what that meant but he was confident that it was a better quality than what he had been hoping for.

He almost chose that option right then and there. Only his curiosity prevented him from doing so. He wanted to see what other options there were.

The second option was just as intriguing as the first one. The option was a growth-type item called the Gauntlets of Kinetic Phoenix. Just the name sounded amazing. Kinetic Phoenix was what he had been looking forward to do with some of his skills and hoped that his eventual body skill would have a similar name.

Fusing his kinetic affinity with his fire and life affinity was something he had been wanting to do for a long time.

Even the option of the specific weapon was nice. Gauntlets were just what he would want in a weapon. He realized that he enjoyed punching things with his hands more than a normal person should. This was a top contender as well.

The third option wasn't as tempting as the others. A superior skill sounded nice, but he honestly wasn't that intrigued. Perhaps he was spoiled because he already had several superior skills but he also had plenty of skills and Concepts.

In fact, he had already reached the Concept requirement to advance to Tier 4. The main thing he still needed to do involved him nurturing his Emblem so that it evolved in his Authority.

That was especially true now that he had gained his fourth Concept.

The fourth option sounded nice as well. Or well… it would have sounded nice if Richard hadn't told him in strict terms to not choose this option.

Apparently, there were differences between the Concept Enlightenment and the Concept Manual in terms of rewards.

Julius recalled being offered Concept Enlightenment in the past when he chose the extra skill slot, but he didn't really know what it meant back then.

But luckily Richard explained to him what both were and why Julius should never accept a Concept Manual reward. At least in his case anyhow.

According to the older man, Concept Enlightenment was the reward of allowing someone to reach an enlightened phase to help hasten their process of gaining a Concept. It worked especially well if someone was close to gaining Concept but needed that final push. However, it didn't mean that one would be able to acquire a Concept with certainty.

The Concept Manual on the other hand was different. If you chose this option, it was almost guaranteed that you would gain a Concept as long as you followed the manual.

While sounding really nice, the downside of this was that acquirement of the Concept would be far less interlinked with one's soul since it was less personal to the person. It was a way for people who couldn't learn one of their own to do so.

But for people like Julius, it would only serve as a handicap. He had already proven he could learn Concepts and had four Concepts on his own to prove it. Thus he wasn't in need of artificial aid. That was why Richard told him never to choose this reward.

If it was the Concept Enlightenment, that would be a different story altogether, but the manual was a no-go. Which was why Julius instantly tossed that option in the trash.

The fifth and final option was something that Julius had not heard of from anyone. But it was a very interesting option. A Familiar Evolution Token sounded like it would be a perfect item for Drasil.

And to be honest, he was tempted to choose it just for that reason alone. Drasil was his loyal familiar and friend, saving his life more than once. He believed that Drasil deserved a reward for his work. Therefore, there was a huge incentive for Julius to choose this option.

He knew that if Drasil was out here with him, he would be the first one to tell him not to get it, but he wasn't. In fact, Julius hadn't been able to summon his familiar the entire time he had been in the Rift. He had tried a couple of times when he had a break, but something about the conditions of the Rift prevented him from doing so.

However, no matter how badly he wished to spoil Drasil, he couldn't bring himself to actually select the fifth option.

There were other ways he could help Drasil evolve. There were items such as the lotus that Lily gifted to them a while back. He would make sure to keep an eye out for any treasures that could do something similar.

But in the end, there was only one real option available to him.

Thus, with a firm nod to himself, he selected the Skill Combination Token, holding his breath as he did.