Chapter 205

Sarah POV

When Elder Han said that they didn’t stand a chance, she and the others did not believe him. Although they respected the old man more than anyone else, it was hard to trust the opinion of someone who looked like they could keel over and die at any moment.

Still, when he had dismantled them so easily, it was impossible to ignore that Elder Han was right.

Thus, once they dusted themselves off they shamelessly asked for help. Even Ibram swallowed his pride and asked the boy for some pointers.

However, Sarah knew that Julius wasn’t just there to teach them new skills or techniques, he was here to show them that there was always someone better than you out there. 

It was humbling and frustrating in equal measure.

However, then it was finally her turn to get his help.

“Why do you use [Mana Bolt]?” That was the first thing he asked her. It almost sounded like the idea of her using [Mana Bolt] offended him in some way.

“I wanted some more offensive powerful spell to use,” she explained like she had a thousand times to everyone who had the same question.

“Is that all? Because if so, that's a pretty poor reason.”

“How is me wanting to do more damage and contribute to a fight a poor reason?” She said offended by his tone.

“Because it is wasteful and your use of the skill is not very good. To be honest, your skill does more damage to my eyes than if I just let it hit me in the face,” he told her with a completely straight face.

She felt herself get riled up. “You keep talking like that you will find the answer to that pretty quickly.”

He raised his hands and laughed at her. “Sorry. But it’s true. Why don’t you use your water affinity instead? There’s plenty you could do with it to be useful. One of my friends uses their water affinity as a hybrid fighter. He has some pretty cool buffs as well.”

“Because I want to use [Mana Bolt],” she stated stubbornly.

He looked as if he was going to continue arguing, but must have decided against it. “Okay, then let’s work on that [Mana Bolt], because it is absolutely sad to see it as is.”

She sent a low-powered [Mana Bolt] at him for that, and she wasn’t that surprised that he avoided it without even looking at her.

“First, you have to learn how to compress it more.”

“Compress it?” She asked curiously.

“Yes, if you want to make [Mana Bolt] work you have to compress your mana, otherwise it will be too weak. Also, you are wasting a lot of mana as you create each [Mana Bolt]. Focus on making sure that all of the mana you use ends up in the [Mana Bolt], right now about half of your mana ends up dissipating in the air, mana that could be used to empower it even more,” he explained to her.

For the next while, he helped her work on her skill. He was surprisingly a good teacher. Sarah had learned most of her mana control from the workers of the orphanage, but Julius seemed to have a much higher standard when it came to control. 

It was almost to the point of perfectionism and she would have complained if it wasn't for it working so well. 

By the time he was done helping her, she had already gained two levels in [Mana Bolt].

She sent another fully empowered [Mana Bolt] at Julius with a smile, all the while inwardly thanking Elder Han for bringing this boy to them.

***

Julius POV

After he had beaten them up a little bit, he was surprised at how easily they set aside their pride. Even Ibram was being more respectful. Although, Scott, who had been knocked out, wasn’t being as cooperative. 

He was doing his own thing to the side, as Julius was helping the others. Pouting as his friends gleefully took advice from Julius.

Once, he had taken the time to help every one of them, he left with Elder Han escorting him back.

“What was the true purpose of that?” Julius asked.

“You still don’t think it was to offer some help to some poor orphans?” Elder Han questioned.

“I think there’s another reason on top of that,” Julius stated confidently.

Elder Han smirked at that. “You know when I spotted you enter Stonewall with that girl I couldn’t believe my old weary eyes.”

Julius’s eyes narrowed. That ‘girl’? He thought to himself.

“Oh ho. So you do know who you’re traveling with. Hm, I would have expected you were just some ignorant boy.”

“What you are trying to say?”

“I’m just saying I am surprised a boy like you with your talents is traveling with a distinguished member of the royal family.” Elder Han said, Julius detecting a hint of scorn behind his words.

Julius halted mid-step. He knows that she’s the princess? How does he know?

If it wasn’t for the fact that he thought Elder Han wasn’t a bad guy, he would have attacked immediately at that moment, it didn't matter if he was vastly more powerful. He wouldn't allow a threat to his friend to continue to exist.

“Surprised you huh? I’m glad something finally did.” Elder Han chuckled.

“How did you know?”

“How could I not? Silly girl is wearing the same disguise as she did years ago,” the old man said but then paused. “Although, you are the one who brought my attention to her. If it wasn’t for spotting your brilliant aura, I would have overlooked her. It's the reason why I was paying attention to you and also know you took the money from those guards.”

Julius gritted his teeth. He had believed that his control over his aura was pretty good. But it seemed he was wrong. The old man had seen everything and that had led him to recognize the princess.

“What do you plan to do now?” Julius eventually asked.

Elder Han laughed. “Me? Nothing, nothing at all. I am an old man who wants nothing to do with drama involving the royal family. I couldn't care less why the princess is all the way out here. I am more interested in you, a person who has multiple Concepts at Tier 2 is quite the anomaly. How your soul is in one piece, is quite the mystery to me.”

Well, you would be surprised to learn that up until recently, it wasn't, he thought to himself.

“And what? This was all some sort of twisted test?”

“I just wanted to see what kind of person you were first. I found that introducing people to rude children tends to bring out a more genuine version of themselves.”

“I still don’t see the reason for all of this.”

Elder Han shrugged his shoulders. “Call it an old man’s whim.”

Julius didn’t bother trying to pry any further. He knew that he wouldn’t get anywhere. Instead, he and Elder Han walked quietly back to the front of the orphanage.

However, he was much more guarded against Elder Han. Everything in Julius’s instincts said he didn’t have to worry about the old man, but he would take some precautions.

Julius still didn’t know how he felt about Elder Han now, but he was still hoping that the old coot could help him find an easier way back to Heston, back to his friends, who were probably worried sick.

Leaving with more questions than answers, he walked away from the orphanage, through the town, and entered the inn. The moment he did, he reached out with [Spatial Perception].

However, to his confusion, he wasn’t able to sense Reinera anywhere. She wasn’t in her room, nor was she in the dining room. He didn’t even bother trying to go up to their rooms, he turned back around and left immediately.

He spent a few minutes looking around the inn, but he still wasn’t able to find her. 

She probably just went out for some fresh air, he thought to himself, planning to just head back to his room and wait for her.

However, more cynical thoughts arose in his head. Thoughts that stemmed from his interaction with Elder Han. He didn’t think the old man would do anything, if anything he sounded like he couldn’t care less about the princess. 

Maybe, I will just look for her and we can go back to our rooms together, he decided.

Luckily for him, just based on where the inn is situated there was only one real direction where she would go. It wasn’t that big compared to a city like Heston, so he would have a decent chance as long as he used his perception skill and his mana senses.

Several minutes into his search, he came across a square that was abandoned. However, the first thing that jumped out to him was the signs of destruction around the area. That wasn’t it either, there were lingering signs of mana from many people.

And one of them he was very familiar with. It was Reinera’s mana. 

What happened here? Did she get attacked?

Unfortunately, he couldn’t tell where it went. He used [Kinetic Augmentation] to boost his speed as much as he could and ran around the square as fast as he could, but he wasn’t able to tell where she or the other people who were there had gone.

I might have to see that old codger sooner than expected, he grimly thought to himself.

***

“Well, I was hoping to see you soon, but I can’t say I expected to see you this soon,” Elder Han said while sipping on some tea.

Julius didn’t have time to entertain the old man at the moment, so he spoke bluntly. “I think someone kidnapped the princess.”

The old man sat up noticeably straighter, setting aside his tea. “You said you think someone kidnapped her?”

Julius explained everything that happened from the time he left Elder Han to when he found the square.

After he finished, Elder Han ran a wrinkly hand over his chin. “I think I know who took her.”

Julius stood up quickly. “Who?”

“The same group that those guards you robbed belonged to,” Elder Han said.

“Group?”

***

Apparently, the group has been quite active in Stonewall in recent years. Elder Han explained that the group used coercion, blackmail, kidnapping, and many other morally dubious things to expand their influence. 

And kidnapping noble-born children was a normal thing for them. They would kidnap these children and then sell them back to their parents. 

That was why Elder Han believed that they were planning to do the same for Reinera. Unfortunately, she wasn’t just a simple lord’s daughter. She was the Princess of the Empire. 

“How can I find them?”

“Oh, I know exactly where they are and where they are probably holding her,” the old man stated like it was no big deal, but didn’t expand on where that might place was.

Julius tried to stay calm. “And where might that be?”

He got no response in return. Even after a minute of silence, Elder Han didn’t seem like he was going to be forthcoming about the information.

When Julius asked two more times, he finally got a reaction.

“Why would I help a person of royal blood?” Elder Han asked bitterly, surprising Julius with how much resentment was in that single sentence. 

“I thought you said you knew her?” Julius asked carefully.

“Oh, I do. I know that family quite well. But that doesn’t mean I like them. I guess it would be accurate to say that I don’t have very kind feelings for the royal family,” Elder Han said waspishly, not sounding anything like the kind old man Julius had seen so far.

What occurred between him and the royal family to cause such bad blood? Julius thought to himself.

“Does that mean you won’t help me find her?”

“If they wanted her safe, then the royal family should have done a better job protecting her,” Elder Han said dismissively.

“She’s practically a child, I would think that someone who ran an orphanage would have more sympathy than that,” Julius argued in disbelief.

“I don’t know how you got caught up with her, but you should just let her go. Trust me, she’s not worth it.”

“You don’t know her.”

“No, but I know her family well. That says everything I need to know about her.”

Julius gave him a look of pure disappointment. “So you won’t help me?”

“No.”

“Not even if I use the favor to make you give me the location?” Julius asked.

“You would waste your favor on something like this?”

Julius looked Elder Han directly in his eyes. “I wouldn’t be wasting it,” he said calmly.

Elder Han stopped the retort that was about to come out of his mouth. Instead, he gave Julius a meaningful stare. “Is she so different?” Elder Han finally asked, a hint of hope appearing in his otherwise dreary tone.

“I don’t know,” Julius told him honestly. “I haven’t met any of the other royalty.”

Elder was silent for a while, fiddling with the handle of his teacup. “I hope for your sake, that you are right,” he said while looking out of the window with a lost gaze.