The guards didn't seem to be extremely wary of them. Additionally, they didn't seem to notice that Cain and Freya were hiding their auras. Most of them were Tier 4s, but Julius spotted a Tier 5 approaching them as they waited. The man exuded an impressive aura and wasn't shy about displaying it.

The man noticed something off right away. Julius didn't know if the man knew that Cain and Freya were Tier 6, but he clearly suspected they weren't average people. With that being said, he was very polite and asked Julius some simple questions. Questions that seemed intended to confirm he was indeed the same Julius his friends were waiting for. He said that because he was asked about Drasil and also about things like his favorite foods.

Julius answered these questions truthfully and let his aura open to show his honesty.

Thankfully, their wait wasn't too boring or awkward. The guards were surprisingly friendly and made some small talk to pass the time.

Suddenly, as he was in the middle of talking with one of the guards, he sensed them. He looked them in the eye and gave them a smirk.

Aubrey was the first to attack him, and once she had, the rest followed.

Julius knew when it was useless to fight back. He just let them have their moment and waited until they climbed off of him. It took longer than expected, but when he finally wasn't being smothered anymore, he gasped.

"It's good to see you guys too," he said breathlessly.

"You got some nerve leaving us like that," Aubrey poked him in the ribs. He smacked it away. She knew that he was ticklish there.

"I didn't have much of a choice," he tried to explain.

"Yeah, but you could have given us more information about where you were going and why," Aubrey argued.

Julius pressed his lips together and nodded begrudgingly. Admittedly, he could have done more to explain what was going on to them. At the time, there had been so much going on that he wasn't able to let them know what was going on.

"Sorry," he said apologetically.

To his bafflement, Aubrey just grinned brightly. "It's okay," she said warmly.

He pinched his eyes together and glared at her. "What?"

"I said it's fine," she said happily.

"Then why did you make it sound like it was a big deal?" He asked confusedly. He was also a bit worried that she had forgiven him so easily. That wasn't like her at all, and he looked around to make sure there weren't any surprises waiting for him.

She smiled at him. "Because I wanted to get it off my chest, that's why. And I think we deserve to complain about it," she said, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. Furthermore, he shouldn't have been shocked by that explanation.

He could only shake his head in exasperation. "How have you guys been?"

He asked this, but he could already tell right away that they had made some changes themselves. Lily's transformation was the most obvious. Despite her previous training in hand-to-hand combat in Gabriel's class, she never had much muscle.

However, that was different now. Julius could see the slim but tight muscles in her forearms and her legs. There was a ruggedness there that hadn't been present the last time he had seen her. She must have been training her physical body, and he was curious why the sudden decision after all this time.

Additionally, upon further inspection, he realized that it wasn't just her muscles that had grown. She had this passive layer of what he assumed was psychic energy around her. It was almost as if she were constantly augmenting her physical body with some form of telekinesis.

Perhaps that was the reason she needed to start working out. Julius wasn't a hundred percent sure, but this had Marcus's fingers all over it. He knew from talking with the man himself that Marcus used telekinesis to enforce his body as well. Thus, it would make sense if he taught Lily something similar.

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Her aura had this deepness and danger to it that hadn't been present before. He had a feeling that Lily had become quite a dangerous person.

Close combat fighting had always been one of Lily's most glaring weaknesses. While she was an absolute terror when it came to psychic abilities, her body held her back a lot of the time. However, if she had fixed that, then she was going to be a force to reckon with.

The other three also showed some changes. Aubrey had this weird glimmer of light present in her aura. It reminded Julius of her prismatic skill, and it was quite beautiful to look at. Very similar to a gently pulsing rainbow, which tickled his aura senses. He was interested in asking her how she managed to do something like that.

Edgar didn't have any dramatic changes to his physique or his aura, but Julius noticed his friend was using his senses with far more finesse than before. Perception, whether it was mana or aura perception, had always been one of the weaker aspects of Edgar's path.

However, Julius could tell right away that the guy had been putting a lot of focus on it during the time that Julius was away. He could practically feel Edgar's senses touch everything around him. It wasn't as subtle as it could be, but it was quite an incredible improvement from the last time Julius saw him.

Derek, on the other hand, felt very different. Much more… powerful. The change that Julius noticed in Derek was as significant as the change he felt in Lily, but more direct. There was an edge and hunger within the Zenith Scion's aura.

It was combined with a powerful tingly feeling that Julius was sure was from whatever improvements Derek made in his lightning magic. It would appear that almost being assassinated had finally lit a fire underneath his sparky friend.

Julius always believed that Derek had immense talent and was sometimes a bit disappointed when he didn't see Derek putting in much work. However, that looked to have changed.

Julius couldn't wait to see Derek fight. As a matter of fact, he couldn't wait to see any one of them fight. Although if he were being honest, it was likely Lily who interested him the most. He was curious how much Marcus had taught her. Julius had always been very impressed by Marcus.

As they spent the next several minutes quickly telling each other all that had happened to one another, he sensed another person approaching them.

It was a beautiful woman, and he couldn't help but notice the similarities to Derek. They had the same fine and elegant features. However, she had warm chestnut brown hair compared to Derek's own blonde hair.

"What are you troublemakers doing out here?" The woman asked with a light laugh as she got closer.

Thankfully, Lily was next to him and helped confirm his suspicions. "That is Aliyah Zenith, Derek's mother," she whispered to him.

He nodded gratefully. He had suspected as much, but he didn't know if she was his mother or just another relative.

"I thought you still had a lot to prepare for the dinner party?" Derek asked his mother.

"It's pretty much finished up, but when I was notified about some commotion at the front gates, I came to see what was going on."

"Well, it is perfect timing anyway. I have told you about him, but this here is Julius," Derek said while gesturing at him.

"Oh? This is the infamous Julius?" Derek's mother asked.

"Infamous?" Julius muttered, but only Cain, Freya, and Lily heard him.

Derek nodded. "Yes, the very same one," he said and turned toward Julius. "Julius, this is my mother. Don't worry about being super formal with her. She doesn't really care too much about that stuff outside of public events."

Julius went over to her and gave her a polite bow. "It is nice to meet you finally, Lady Aliyah." He made sure to put on his best manners.

"It's great to meet you, too. I have heard about your accomplishments during the Intra-School Tournament and am very impressed. I can't recall the last person who qualified for the Tier 3 Tournament who was a first year," she complimented him.

He scratched his head awkwardly. "I got lucky," he said simply.

"Lucky my ass," he heard Aubrey grumble, and Edgar gave her a warning bump on the shoulder.

"No, no, from what I heard, you even managed to beat Irene Graves and Liam Abrams. If anything, you got unlucky going up against those two," Derek's mother stated with a knowing smile.

"He likes to pretend he isn't all that strong," Lily commented with a roll of her eyes.

"Ah, one of those types," Aliyah said with a nod. "So who are your friends?" She asked while looking at Cain and Freya, who were standing off to the side.

"Yeah, are these the people who helped you train your kinetic energy?" Edgar asked curiously.

Julius nodded. "Sort of, this is Cain, and he is the one who has done the majority of my training with kinetic energy," he explained and then pointed at Freya. "And this is Freya, she has helped me with a lot of other aspects."

All of his friends went over and introduced themselves to Cain and Freya. Aubrey immediately started to ask questions about what Julius had done and if there were any embarrassing things they had caught him doing.

They didn't seem to have any suspicions about them. However, as this was going on, he noticed that Aliyah had an uncomfortable look on her face as she stared at Cain and Freya. Something that he took note of, and he was sure that they did as well.

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