“You left me to the wolves,” he said to Maya accusingly.

She rolled her eyes. “It wasn’t that bad.”

He paused and stared at her blankly. “Five minutes. That’s all it took before they smelled fresh meat and cornered me.”

“I was talking to my friends. They hadn’t seen me in months.”

“Well, thanks to them, I almost died,” he said dramatically.

“Oh no! Imagine the horror of that,” she said sarcastically.

“I won’t forget this. Next time you need my assistance, I’ll make sure I am indisposed,” he promised.

She looked at him grudgingly. “Assistance? You mean like when you tortured me with willpower training after I was already dead on my feet?”

“Hey, that was Cassandra’s idea. Plus, wasn’t it you who begged me to help train your willpower? I was only trying to help you,” he argued with an innocent smile.

She kicked him in the shin. “I was crawling away from you. In what world does that make it look like I wanted willpower training?”

He rubbed his shin and shrugged. “I thought you were being coy.”

She kicked him again, this time a little harder, before stalking away.

“Ow,” he said flatly and chased after her. “So how does it work?”

She looked over her shoulder. “How does what work?”

“The whole dynamic between outer disciples and inner disciples. Is the difference strictly tier-based? Or are there other factors?”

“Mostly tier-based. Those who are Tier 3 are outer disciples, and those who are Tier 4 are inner disciples. But there are exceptions to this rule. Talent and potential play a big role. For example, Shin and I are core disciples despite being Tier 3, because we are the most likely to advance to Tier 5. So we were elevated to core disciples.”

“Oh wow, you guys are more impressive than I thought,” he noted.

She turned around to kick him again, but he didn’t bother to dodge and let her foot slam into his shin. This time, he didn’t react and simply looked at her in disbelief.

“What was that for? I was being genuine, you know.”

“Yeah, but it comes across as patronizing coming from someone as strong as you,” she said with a pout as she rubbed her toe that she hurt from kicking him. “Why is your skin so much harder now?”

“Oh, that’s the life mana I’ve been using,” he said, holding his hands on his hips proudly.

“And it makes your skin that much tougher?” She asked with skepticism.

He nodded and took out a little knife from his storage ring. He then stabbed his arm with the knife and excitedly showed off his undamaged skin.

He had been trying to practice his life mana, especially the new application he had learned inside the rift, as well as the technique he learned from Tezuko. The first one was a lot easier to implement. He already had a solid foundation in willpower and used intent for most of his constructs anyway. This was simply a different application of the same method.

The latter was much harder. He remembered the feeling he got during the vision, but was at a loss for how to recreate it with a ruinous aura. The last attempt ended with him blowing up a chunk of his hand when he lost control.

She stared at the unblemished skin and shook her head, then turned away. “You are insane, you know that, right?”

“Words hurt you know,” he commented.

She ignored him, and seeing that he wasn’t going to get anything else out of her, he caught up with Elder Malric. When he was beside the man, he was handed something. It was a badge bearing the sect’s symbol.

“This is your identification badge while you are here at the sect. Don’t lose it,” Elder Malric said to him.

“And if I do?”

Elder Malric looked over at him with a sigh. “Then I will be annoyed that I have to get you a new one. It’s a special badge that we only give to our honored guests. Normally, there are procedures we would have to follow for you to get one of those, but with Vice Sect Leader Cassandra vouching for you, we have done away with those.”

“Cool,” he commented while he examined the badge and was impressed by its complex nature. He wasn’t even able to figure out where the enhancements began and ended. It was no wonder that he was told not to lose it.

“So who wants to meet me?” He asked the old man after a moment.

Elder Malric let out something that resembled a grunt. “It’s a surprise.”

“I don’t like surprises,” he said with a grimace.

“You handled that last one quite well.”

“Which one?” Julius asked, confused.

“Those inner disciples who confronted you,” Elder Malric said with a tilt of his head, as if it was obvious.

“So you were watching.”

“Of course.”

“And you didn’t help me?”

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“I wanted to see how you would handle it.”

“And how did I do?”

Elder Malric graced him with a broad grin for the first time. “Not bad.”

“Not bad?”

“You didn’t beat them up despite being stronger than them,” the old man noted.

“I don’t think that’s saying a lot. I feel like that’s just being a generally decent human being,” he said with a frown. “And what makes you so confident that I am stronger than them anyway?”

Elder Malric chuckled. “I’m not. But you are someone who caught the attention of a woman who is known for her combat prowess. Additionally, young Maya seems to respect you. Which means she recognizes your talent at the very least.”

“I still don’t see how that’s impressive.”

“You also didn’t escalate things despite having reason to. Which showed a level of maturity that not everyone your age has.”

Julius tilted his head and smiled. “Thanks.”

Elder Malric didn’t respond, but there was an amused twinkle in his eyes while Julius followed the man to wherever he was being taken.

***

Unlike the outer court, he didn’t attract as much attention. Perhaps it was because Cassandra wasn’t walking beside them, but for the most part, he was able to blend into the background. If anyone got attention, it was Elder Malric and Maya. They were apparently very popular with the people of the inner court.

Julius frowned a little bit when he was taken to an area isolated from the rest of the sect. He felt himself pass through several barriers. He had no idea what these barriers did, but he suspected they alerted whoever placed them there.

His suspicions were mostly alleviated when he saw Cassandra sitting beneath a beautiful pergola in the middle of an equally beautiful garden. The only thing he was concerned about was the man sitting in front of her.

“Who’s that?” He asked Maya.

She had also noted the figure, but unlike him, she seemed to recognize the man and looked much more nervous for some reason. He could sense how her fingers clenched together, and her chest tightened up.

“That’s Grand Elder Koenn,” she whispered, not taking her eyes off the man.

“Is he a big deal?” 𝚏𝗿𝗲𝐞𝚠𝕖𝐛𝗻𝗼𝐯𝕖𝚕.𝚌𝗼𝗺

She nodded stiffly. “Yep.”

“Hmm.” Julius nodded alongside her and examined the man closely. The first thing he noticed was how closed off the man’s aura was. Julius wasn’t able to get a single bit of information. It was like looking at a brick wall. The other thing that caught his eye was the man’s gaze, focused on him alone.

Cassandra gestured to them, and with a slight hesitation, they all headed over to the pergola.

“So this is the boy,” the man stated.

“Yes, this is him,” Cassandra confirmed.

“He doesn’t look like much.”

“That’s awfully rude,” he grumbled.

“Just making an observation,” the man stated with an even sharper glare.

“Easy, Koenn,” Cassandra said placatingly before she turned to Julius. “This is Grand Elder Koenn. He is here to meet you and approve whether or not I can give you that affinity-improving treasure I was talking to you about.”

“So if he doesn’t like me, I won’t get it?” Julius clarified.

She seemed to find this amusing. “Yes, but I might still give it to you regardless.”

Grand Elder Koenn snapped his gaze to her. “Cassandra,” he said warningly.

She lifted her palms up. “When we agreed to this, I assumed that you would be bipartisan and fair. But if you aren’t willing to do that, then I will disregard your advice and position. As is my right as vice sect leader. If you don’t like it, then you can take it up with Kaelor later.”

The grand elder deflated upon hearing this and looked at Julius. “What is your purpose for coming to our sect?” His tone was much more respectful and sounded more curious than anything else.

Julius rubbed his chin. “Honestly, I don’t really have many plans. Cassandra and Caldrus were the ones who convinced me to come here. I was originally planning to travel around Corvus, but they allured me with the promises of riches and treasures.”

He felt Cassandra toss a spike of aura at him, the equivalent of smacking him on the head. Which didn’t go unnoticed by the grand elder.

“So what does the sect get in return if we give you treasures?” The question was asked politely, but Julius felt a slight surge of aura from the man. The pressure and the aura's intensity were intense despite only a small portion of it leaking out.

He shrugged, unbothered by it. “I’m not sure. I promised that I would give lessons to some of the other disciples.”

“That’s all?”

He looked over at the grand elder. “I asked her the same thing. Is it really that big a deal if I consume this treasure?”

“Yes, because there are many other disciples who have earned the opportunity to raise their fire affinity. Unlike our vice sect leader, I don’t feel comfortable giving it to some strange boy who has no association with our sect.”

Julius sighed. This was becoming too much of a fiasco for him. “Okay, in that case, just give the treasure to one of them.”

“You don’t want it?”

He met the man’s gaze unflinchingly. “I don’t need it.” And he genuinely meant that. He had no need for it. After all, he had been doing fine without it so far.

The elder was clearly taken aback by his answer, but remained stoic. “Then why would she offer it to you?”

“Because I mentioned the possibility of getting such a treasure, and she believes that it will do me much good.”

“But you don’t?”

“I have a lot of other things to work on. My fire related abilities aren’t at the top of my priority. I can always try to get some later. She mentioned that such treasures were more common in places like the Scorched Wastelands.”

“You have plans of going to the wastelands?”

“Of course.” After all, that was a big reason why he had come to the Burning Sun Sect, if not the main reason.

“So you like fighting?”

“At times, but like I said before, I am more focused on my life mana at the moment. That might involve me acting as support sometimes.”

Grand Elder Koenn stared at Julius for a few moments, not saying anything.

“So do you approve or not?” Cassandra finally broke the silence.

The man looked over at her and frowned. “I do. You can give it to him, but in return, I want him to do a few things for the sect.”

Julius immediately shook his head. “I’m good.”

Cassandra shot him a dark look. “What do you mean by that? This was all in the efforts of giving you the treasure and improving your fire affinity.”

“Yeah, but clearly it isn’t as simple as you led me to believe. If you give it to me, it is evident that I will inevitably have to pay a price. It’s not that important to me and definitely not worth the troubles that might follow. I don’t want to owe the Burning Sun Sect, and I also would feel bad about taking the opportunity away from the other disciples who have earned it. I am not so shameless as to steal away their chance when I am not even a part of their sect.”

He noticed that Grand Elder Koenn had an approving look on his otherwise stern face. Whereas Cassandra looked at him funny. “Are you sure?”

He nodded firmly. “Yep. Now, with all due respect, but I am tired from the trip and the day’s activities. If there isn’t anything more, I would like to relax and get settled in.”

He spotted that Grand Elder Koenn was going to say something, but Cassandra must have sent the man a private message, because he stopped himself and looked over at her.

As for Julius, he was a little disappointed by this turn of events, but he also wasn’t feeling too upset. The treasure would be nice, but ultimately not worth the cost it seemed to entail. Plus, he had a bunch of other treasures he still needed to consume. He could bide his time and wait until the cost wasn't as high, or when they realized his value outweighed an affinity treasure.

He chuckled to himself evilly. He was sometimes impressed by how clever he could be.