"What?" Julius asked her. He wondered why she had that look on her face. It kind of made him nervous.

"Lily and Derek, you said?" She asked him.

He tilted his head. "Yeah. Do you know them?"

She chuckled and let out a sigh. "Yeah, their grandparents told me about them. Somehow, I am not that surprised that you know them."

"You know their grandparents?" He asked with interest.

"Yep, Cain and I last saw them at a special event. They both couldn't stop talking about their new grandchildren. How did you meet them?" Freya explained.

Julius smiled. "We went to school together at Goldencrest. I'm honestly surprised you know them as well."

She shook her head with amusement. "What about your other friends? Do you think we would know them, too?"

Julius shrugged. "There is also Aubrey and Edgar, but I don't know if you would know them. You might know Aubrey's mother; her name is Fiona."

"Fiona Crysalia?" Cain interjected with a surprised grunt.

"Yep," Julius said with a surprised nod, but glanced at Freya when he saw her pinch her nose. "What's up?"

"We were worried that you wouldn't have anyone backing you when you came here. But it would appear that we were very wrong," she muttered.

"Is that why you came with me?" Julius asked curiously.

"Partly, it was also a nice excuse to go on a vacation," Cain spoke for Freya.

Julius nodded. He got the sense that it was a big reason as well. Cain was always so busy when he was back at the school that Julius doubted the man had many chances to relax.

"Okay, change of plans. Let's go find your friends now and then decide what to do later," Freya suddenly said to them.

Julius didn't have any problems with that. The only problem was that he wasn't able to contact the others with his communication device yet. Either they weren't in range or something was blocking it.

He said as much to the two of them.

"Are they supposed to be here already?" Freya asked.

He nodded. He was pretty sure that they were supposed to already be in the capital, and they had told him that they would either be staying at Lily's or Derek's estate, depending on the situation.

"Let me see your communication device," Freya said to him.

He didn't question her and passed it over.

"Seriously?" He heard her ask with a deep frown.

"What?" He was confused as to why she sounded a little disgusted.

She held the device in her hand and fiddled with it. "Where did you get this?"

He glanced back and forth from the device and her. "Um, someone gave it to me as a gift. Why is something wrong with it?"

"Nothing is wrong with it, but the distance of communication is seriously lacking. Especially when there are so many enchantments in the capital that impede most communication devices. Here, take this," she said as she removed a small sheet of inscribed metal. It was very different than his little communication orb.

"What's this?" he asked as he turned the sheet of metal in his hands.

"It's a communication device that has already been connected with the capital's communication array. It will work much better than this dinky item would," she said while waving his old communication device at him. "Sadly, you won't be able to contact them until you re-exchange contact information."

He shrugged. "That's fine. You mentioned you had a way to contact them?"

"Yeah, it should be pretty easy," Freya assured him.

"Perfect," Julius said with a soft nod and couldn't help but smile. He couldn't wait to see his friends again, especially after how he left things. He just hoped they weren't too angry at him.

***

It was actually surprisingly easy to contact House Zenith. Cain and Freya obviously had some impressive contacts in the capital, and it didn't take long for them to get a response.

Before long, a representative from House Zenith came running to meet them. Apparently, Derek must have said something about Julius or let his family know that he was coming, because they had been expecting Julius to show up.

There weren't even that many questions, and before long, they were being taken through the inner district in a carriage that was unbelievably luxurious. The carriage they had come in with Antoly was nice, but this was extravagant in every way.

It took some time to get all the way through the inner district, but eventually, they came up to another gate. Julius should not have been surprised, but it would seem that Derek's family lived in the core district. A place that was the center of the capital, where many influential people lived.

That being said, the core district wasn't small. In fact, it was positively massive. Enormous buildings of complex designs spiraled throughout the district. He saw several buildings that spiralled up to the sky.

This gate wasn't as large as the one separating the other districts, but he didn't let that fool him. The power he felt from the enchantments was worlds apart.

He could feel his skin buzzing from the ambient mana being put off from the barrier. Even Drasil could sense the mana from Julius's soul space. The little glutton likely wanted to take a lick and test the mana for himself. Julius made sure to keep the life spirit tucked away for the time being. Perhaps, he would allow Drasil to taste it at a later time.

Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

As they were being taken into the district, Julius was able to see a very tall palace situated at the very center. He had a feeling that this was the palace and also the place where Reinera was. He wondered if she was there at the moment and if he would be able to see her.

She had said she was allowed to see the tournament because it was one of her royal duties, but he didn't know if that meant she would be able to spend time with him as well.

Eventually, the carriage pulled up to a stop, and they exited the carriage to see a very impressive estate. Many guards were patrolling the area, and Julius spotted House Zenith's symbol across their black uniforms.

As expected from a Ducal Household, they had many powerful guards. Their auras were very experienced and powerful. He knew that this wasn't the main property of the House, but it was still very impressive to see.

They were politely told to wait for a moment, and Julius suspected that the others were being alerted to their presence. Now all he had to do was wait.

*** Lily POV

Lily, along with the others, had arrived at the capital several days ago. They would have gotten there sooner, but they had to take care of a few things before they were able to leave.

They were staying at one of Derek's family's properties. His mother insisted that they remain there for the duration of the tournament. They had a wonderful property situation in the core district, a place that even most nobles of the Empire were unable to reside.

While they were there, they continued their training. They had all shown some massive improvements during that time as well. The reason they had been stalled from arriving earlier was that Derek, Edgar, and Aubrey had all taken time to head back to Goldencrest. The school's rift helped them improve their Emblems, which helped them raise their strength even further.

Lily wasn't able to since she hadn't participated in the tournament, but she had taken that time to push her training with Marcus, who had become an even more brutal taskmaster. However, it was to her great pride that she had made some significant progress with her body's durability and strength.

It had taken a lot of effort and time, but her body wasn't as weak as it had been several months ago. If she were to attempt that trial rift in the Endless Forest again, she believed she would have been able to either clear that staircase level or, at the very least, get close to beating it.

They had already finished up with their training for the day and were just hanging out in the meantime. They had a dinner prepared in a little bit, and apparently, some of Derek's other family would be coming as well.

While Derek was an only child, he wasn't the only child in the Zenith family. There were other branch families, and Derek had some cousins who made it to the tournament.

Lily hadn't met them yet, but she knew that the two cousins were twins. A boy and a girl. She believed their names were Cyrus and Christina. However, from what Derek had told them, it sounded like they were a little… different than Derek himself.

They were born to one of Derek's uncles and had been raised knowing they belonged to House Zenith. That meant they had certain dispositions that some might say were arrogant and prideful.

However, she didn't want to jump to conclusions. She wouldn't make any assumptions until she at least met them.

"Is it supposed to be a big party or something?" She heard Edgar ask Derek. Their big friend was relaxing on the couch, munching on a crunchy potato snack.

"I'm not really sure. My mother mentioned that she had invited a few other people. But I have no idea how many are going to be there. She did say that we should dress up nicely, but that is about it," Derek replied. Like Edgar, he was also relaxing on a couch.

"I hope it's not like a formal ball or event. If that is the case, I might leave early," Aubrey grumbled. Unlike the others, Aubrey was on the floor, playing with some of her skills. From what Lily recalled, Aubrey was trying to learn a new Concept, but was finding it difficult to draw inspiration.

Not everyone was like Julius and could learn a new Concept by throwing themselves into a fire or something like that.

"Have you guys heard from Julius yet?" Lily called out.

"No, I let my family know that he might reach out, but he hasn't tried to make contact," Derek responded.

Lily shrugged. They had received a letter from Julius a little while ago, explaining that he was in the Northern Regions to meet the man Doren wanted him to see. He also explained that he had decided to stay there to train at the guy's school until the tournament began.

Lily wished that he had been more specific in his message, but that was Julius for you. She had some choice words for him when they reunited.

Just as she was starting to feel another spontaneous bout of annoyance from thinking about Julius, she heard someone knock on the door.

"Come in," Derek called out.

The door opened, and Elliot, one of House Zenith's most trusted retainers, walked in.

"Young Master, I have been alerted that the Julius person you told us to look out for has reached out to us," Elliot said calmly.

All of them jumped up from their spots. "Are you sure?" Derek asked.

Elliot nodded firmly. "Yes. He matched the physical description and apparently has two others with him."

"Two others? Do you know who these people are?" Derek asked.

"Not yet, but we are looking into it."

"Where is he right now?" Lily asked, assuming that these two people were from the school he had mentioned.

"He is on his way over. Should I bring him here, or would you like to meet him at the entrance to verify his identity?"

"Let's go meet him. We will know right away if he is our Julius," Aubrey said confidently.

"Agreed," Edgar said while already heading for the door. Lily and Derek nodded as well and followed right behind Edgar.

Lily had some stuff to say to Julius, but that could wait until she could give him a big hug.

***

When they neared the gates of the estate, Lily couldn't help but feel a little bit nervous. She knew she had no reason to feel that way, but that feeling somehow crawled its way up to her chest. She wasn't the only one, either. She sensed a weird uneasiness around all of them. She had never sensed anything like it before. This was Julius they were talking about, not some stranger.

She wondered if it had something to do with how they left things. Julius had saved them, and maybe there were some unresolved emotions. She didn't like to do it, but she bent one of her rules and released a small amount of psychic energy.

She focused on making all of them more relaxed. Funnily enough, it wasn't Derek or Edgar who noticed her actions; it was Aubrey. Her friend looked over at Lily with a small smile.

She was distracted by this and almost overlooked Julius. She saw him standing next to two other figures: a woman and a man. The woman was beautiful and had practically stark white hair that shimmered beautifully in the evening light. The man next to her was massive. It was like a version of Edgar's even larger uncle.

The three of them were surrounded by a small unit of House Zenith's guards. However, it seemed like the guards were being quite amicable, chatting away as they waited for Lily and her friends.

She wasn't surprised when Julius noticed them right away. He always had such a sharp perception of his surroundings. She rarely saw him caught off guard; it was only when he was really distracted.

The moment he smiled at her, she knew that this was her Julius. It was that same teasing grin that sometimes annoyed her, like he knew a secret that she didn't.

Aubrey must have felt pretty confident as well because she immediately dashed over to Julius and wrapped him up in a tight hug.

Lily didn't let her friend have all of the fun and grinned as she boosted herself with telekinesis to appear at his side quickly. She wasn't the only one, either. Derek and Edgar were fast on her heels.

Julius, who was already having a hard time fending off Aubrey's assault, didn't stand a chance when the rest of them arrived. The three of them slammed into him and brought him to the ground.

Lily giggled as she heard Julius try to say something, but it was choked off by Aubrey's hug that wrapped around his windpipe and crushed his lungs.

The guards off to the side didn't seem to understand what to do. They all looked toward Elliot for direction, but the man simply shrugged. He let Lily and the others have their fun.

Plus, it felt like they deserved to have this moment. Julius had abandoned them a couple of months ago. The least he could do is let them smother him for a little while more.

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