Julius' journey was finally coming to an end with one more stop for rest. Julius was in his small world practicing his swordsmanship once he felt confident that he wasn't swinging awkwardly anymore he left the small world. the bus was at the last stop so Julius turned to talk to kiri but he wasn't there and everyone else was off the bus. Julius got up and stretched his body, he figured Kiri got out to walk around but he felt a little weird that he didn't invite him along. 'hmmm.. he probably didn't want to bother me". Julius stepped off the bus and looked around but he didn't see Kiri anywhere near by so he walked around. after a while of searching around he couldn't find Kiri anywhere so he went up to group of people to ask if they could maybe help him figure out where he went. he hadn't known Kiri for to long but Kiri didn't seem like some who would venture out to far. once he was close to the group of three he spoke up but tried not to sound to aggressive" hello, can you help me find my friend? he got off the bus before me and I haven't been able to find him. He uses a flamberge, green skin with black lines connecting at his eyes?" the trio thought for a while til one of them spoke up and said" oh I think I saw him walk east with four guys" the girl was confident she was remembering correctly based of the description Julius had just given. Julius was a bit surprised by the answer but at least he had a lead now "thank you" Julius said quickly and started heading east.
Julius felt like he had already walked a mile before he came up on his first clue which was a sword mark and the cut on the tree looked very recent. Julius kept moving forward towards more trees that has marks on them. after a few minutes of running around Julius finally started hearing sounds of swords clashing. His suspicion was confirmed somewhat and he sped up towards the sound. when Julius finally caught sight of three people standing together and two people clashing. one of the people was Kiri who looked in a terrible state. Julius didn't even have to get close to see how bad the wound were.
Julius immediately used his aura to boost his speed and took out his dual swords and went past the three boys who were laughing but he didn't pay them no mind and slashed at their friend from the side. Julius attack connected with the arm of the assailant getting in contact, cutting into his muscle. "aagghhhhh" the boy screamed in pain and jumped back. Julius immediately pulled out a healing potion and handed it to kiri. he then turned his focus on to the group of four that were now all holding their weapons getting ready to attack. the lowest one was at bronze rank and two of them were bronze rank two, the third was at rank two. Julius had never been in an actual fight and now his impulse had got him into a fight against four people close to his level.
Julius took a deep breathe since there was nothing he could do now that he got himself involved. one of the boys spoke up in a irritated voice" hey what business do you have attacking my friend randomly" this struck Julius as odd as they were just attacking his friend but he casually replied" cause you guys attacked first.". The tallest one of the group laughed out loud and sneered at Julius and said" what business do you have with that trash?". This rubbed Julius the wrong way. they were all young so who gets to say who is trash and who is not. from Julius' perspective from their attitude alone they were the trash ones. " trash? isn't that a little harsh towards someone you don't know?" Julius asked the group and they all burst out laughing.
" of course we get to say he is trash we are from the same planet and matter fact the same city. he wouldn't even be able to reach where he is at if my family hadn't provided him the technique he uses and yet he was so ungrateful he didn't want to serve our family." said the tall boy. Julius understood now that these boys were higher rank than commoners and he didn't know if he did the right thing so he decided to ask one more question" was it requirement to work for your family to use the technique."
the tall one's face contorted before he replied" not necessarily but this trash is better of working for us or dead as I don't see what he could accomplish without even reaching bronze rank at his age." the other guys nodded in agreement and approval to what he just said. once those words came out his mouth it was confirmation for Julius that he had to fight them.
Julius raised his swords and let the aura flow through them. Seeing that Julius wasn't backing down the group also prepared their weapons and got into their proper stances. even though they were at the same bronze rank as Julius but he still felt that his aura was stronger. the tall boy charged forward towards Julius with his broad sword. even though Julius aura was stronger seeing that he was dual wielder he felt confident he could over power him.
as he was a few feat away from Julius he raised his sword and slashed downward. the sword struck down and missed Julius, but that was not due to a mistake the boy made but Julius moving out the way fast enough. in Julius eyes that sword strike was so slow he didn't feel any threat from it. as Julius dodged another attack came his way from the other bronze rank three boy who was using a Scimitar slashed at Julius' head. Julius didn't have enough time to dodge the attack so he blocked with his one of his swords while striking back with his other. unlike the others attack Julius' attack wasn't targeting anywhere lethal. His attack connected with the right shoulder sending him back.
the two others joined in on the attack striking together at the same time. One slash came from the bottom of his right corner and the broad sword striking from the top left. their attack was lethal but still had its gaps. the claymore strike was faster but had less power behind it so Julius swung both his swords to fully parry the attack. using the momentum from the clash to boost the force of his swing and struck at the broad sword pushing both of back a few steps. Julius hands felt numb from the clash and were shaking a little.
Seeing that they had no intention on stopping this fight any time soon. Julius knew he had to go on the offense. the longer this fight went the worse it would be for Julius. setting his sight on the claymore wielder who was nearest to him, Julius jumped at the chance of his opponent being in shock from the previous moment and went for a strike at his arm. Julius intention was to do the same as before and damage one of his arms so he wouldn't be able to keep on fighting. the plan didn't go as planned and the arm came of clean.
the Arm hitting the ground turned everyone silent, even the one who got cut didn't utter a word or let alone any kind of sound. the air seemed to freeze around Julius, he wanted to throw up but after what he just did he didn't have to much time to think as there was one more opponent for him to face. neither side moved til the pained kicked in and the guy started rolling around screaming.
the tall boy didn't attack because he no longer had the confidence to fight. ' how?how? how did we get dominated by someone of the same rank' he was stressing and fear was creeping up on him. " STOP, let's stop before things go any farther. we won't attack you anymore" the tall one said trying to sound confident but the fear was evident in his voice. Julius backed away from the boy rolling on the ground and headed towards Kiri who looked his recovered from most of his injuries.
putting his swords away he helped Kiri and started walking back to the bus. on their whole walk back neither said a word or even made eye contact with each other. by the time they made it back to the area with people Kiri was able to walk on his own. they still stuck together but they were still confused about what to say. Kiri wasn't confused on what to say but he was hesitant. The same boys who he was just rescued from were who he thought were his closest friends. they never treated him to well but they kept him around and other than his mother everyone else have said and done worse to the little kid.
once everyone got back on the bus including the four guys that attacked them. they were ready to make it into the city in 3 hours. Julius went into his small world since he wasn't going to push Kiri for an explanation on what was going on. he already knew the reason and Kiri was not in the wrong so he let him keep his peace.
Kiri sitting toward the window was looking out thinking back to the previous fight. He figured if he just listened to the guys that they wouldn't go to far but he really didn't know if he could keep his life if it wasn't for Julius' help. His trust has been broken so much but seeing Julius risk his life to save him really set stray his thoughts a stray. he was starting to think of Julius as some benevolent hero. Julius has shared food, space, and risked his life to save Kiri which was more than anyone has done for him. Kiri didn't realize but Julius stopping his meditation to hold a conversation with him made this long trip not as boring. now that they've been moving and it's been two hours since Julius started meditating Kiri was feeling pretty bored but he didn't mind it to much. he was used to everyone else talking to each other while ignoring him.
In julius' small world he was completely immersed in his training. for him it's already been two weeks. he spent most the two weeks thinking about the fight and the feeling of cutting flesh. Julius wasn't violent but he knew that violence and power ruled everything here. he had to start thinking of future plans and what he wanted to do. He set his goal to not be passive in life like the past and make active decisions.
Julius stopped meditating and took a look around. everyone he made eye contact with either looked or gave him a hateful look. He didn't care to much just found it weird. Kiri was just staring out the window when Julius tapped on his shoulder to pass him a some food. Kiri felt a bit ashamed for not having thanked Julius" thank you and thank you for saving me earlier" he said in a low tone but Julius could still hear him. Julius smiled at him and patted his back" no problem man , don't worry about it. they had you out numbered anyway even though they knew you were weaker than them. I just did what my intuition told me to do." Kiri struggled to say something back for couple seconds.
" You still saved my life and I might not be able to do much but I can of...offer my help anyway" He hesitated towards the end but still said what he wanted to say. He was still scared and untrusting of Julius but after someone saves your life the least you could do was be of help to them. " don't worry about it we left there in better shape then them" Julius wasn't speaking in a quit voice so a couple people around heard what he said and they looked vicious but Julius noticed this and understood that a lot of these people are associated with the guys they fought. surprisingly Julius' blood started to rush from excitement for another fight.
Julius and Kiri kept their conversation going for the rest of the ride. the bus finally made it into the city. it was different from what Julius imagined at all. the city was mostly metal and tall building. the city looked very big and endless from how far Julius could see. as he stepped off the bus with Kiri he took in a fresh breath of air feeling so glad that the ride was over. it was mid day the weather was clear and warm which helped boost Julius' mood.
" so you do you want to train with me?" Julius asked. Kiri took a minute to consider what he should say since he didn't really know if he could just take something like that from Julius. He was remembered how he told Julius that he was weak and untalented but Julius offered a way to help him immediately and even after the whole ride he still kept the offer the same. " don't worry no strings attached, it's just a basic technique nothing special" Julius said even though he knew this was one of the best basic technique on this side of the galaxy. " alright, I hope I can over come my weakness. I'm ready to do whatever it takes and I won't ever betray you" Kiri said looking up at Julius who had a big smile on his face.
" sounds great man. let's go find a hotel to unpack and do some sight seeing for today and we can start tomorrow morning." Julius said as he swung his arm around Kiri like they were long time friends. Kiri was surprised but he just accepted it since he couldn't rudely push him away and he was still scared of Julius somewhat. Julius wouldn't do something like this usually or even be this nice but when he merged with Gabriel the kindness and big heart have influenced Julius sob and negative personality.
as they walked into the gate they showed their IDs and went in. their first goal was to find a hotel and rent some rooms. Kiri took the lead to find them somewhere cheap but every basic and decent hotel that they could find was too expensive for Kiri to even afford a single night let alone fifteen nights. as they walked Julius seen a hotel named " the red mountain". this hotel seemed way more luxuries than any around so Julius immediately took control of where they were going. once Kiri realized where Julius was taking them. he started pulling Julius back and said" that's a really expensive hotel, unless we are nobles I don't even think they will let us in" Julius slowed down his pace and said" it's a business so if we have the money for it then I don't see any problems." Julius then took a stack of credits that someone like Kiri has never seen on a commoner have. His doubts about Julius being a noble seemed more true now but he couldn't bother Julius with it since Julius clearly didn't want to talk about his family or background.
Kiri just gave up and let Julius do whatever he wanted to do, worse that could happen was them just getting kicked out. Julius walked in confidently and took a look around. there were a lot of people and from the way they were dressed Julius could tell they were all nobles. they were all giving the pair nasty looks and some even said some nasty stuff out loud without a care. this made Julius realize that his clothes are still dirty from the previous fight and Kiri clothes were a basic pants and shirt. he dragged Kiri along while he walked to the counter to talk to the receptionist. The lady at the desk gave them a slight glance and without even looking up she told them" we don't do business with cheap commoners. go back out the way you came." she had nasty look about here but Julius really liked this hotel so he decide to take some money out of his ring to show he can afford to stay here.
'BANG!!!' Julius slammed his hand down and smacked the money on the counter." business is business right?" he said in annoying tone which angered the lady even more but he indeed did seem to have the money that she claimed he didn't. this really shut her up even though she wanted to say something. with gritting her teeth she asked " how many nights do you plan on staying here? and will it be just the two of you?" Julius nodded his head and added" give us two of your bigger rooms for fifteen nights. how much will that be?" the lady was now surprised of his demand. their big rooms were very spacious but just as expensive. a single night would be about 15,000 credits and he wanted 2 rooms for 15 nights which totaled up to 450,000 credits. " that'll be 450,000 credits." she said sharply thinking this would set Julius straight and send him away.
Kiri was on the side listening to their conversation when he heard how much the total was he spoke before Julius could speak" it's okay I can go find somewhere cheaper for me to stay." Julius shook his head since had credits in over the millions." no worries" Julius said as he took out the credits and handed it over like it was nothing. Kiri was 100% sure that Julius was a noble by the way he didn't even wince.
the lady took the credits and called for one of the assistance to take the up to their rooms. as they were leaving everyone else was put in a foul mood as what seemed like a commoner had gotten a room way better than them. while they were all nobles Julius family was head and heals above anyone. they had many planets and always are adding to their collection. even though this was just a portion of his siblings money he probably holds more than the nobles combined.
as they walked to their rooms Julius was finishing up analyzing all the runes around. his speed for remembering runes seemed a lot faster than the first time he used and more efficient. he didn't know much about ruins or runes masters so he planned on finding some shops he could buy study books from and hopefully there's a rune master association in the city. as they got their rooms the attendant told them a few defensive measures these rooms have which explained the price. nobody but the card holder could break into even if they were in gold rank they wouldn't be able to dent it or leave a scratch on it.
Julius and Kiri went into their rooms agreeing that they'll meet back up in a hour or so. Julius went into his room to find that there's runes on almost everything. he didn't know the function of these runes but he could figure that out later. he memorized the defense runes on the doors and walls already which seemed more important than the ones he was looking at. after changing his clothes Julius study all the runes around the room. Once he was done he laid in the bed to relax and look for flamberge technique. after looking over the 3 he picked for Kiri. they seemed easy to master and so he went into the small world and trained in the techniques. nothing said he couldn't practice a different technique since he didn't need to reach a high level of mastery with it, he just planned on using it to help kiri understand the movements and flow of the Aura.