Reinera POV
She didn't know what to be more shocked by. Was it Julius's overwhelming might? Was it the fact that he could somehow regenerate his entire arm back in mere moments? Or was it the fact that she had just seen him extort a mimic?
Not only that but the mimic seemed to understand him and actually give him two treasures in the end.
All of them seemed more implausible than the last.
"Here, try it out," she heard Julius say to her as he passed over one of the extorted items.
She carefully took it, scared that it would somehow be a trap or a cursed item. But after a quick look with her senses, she couldn't sense any malicious intent on the item. It was actually quite impressive if she was being honest.
The mimic must have been really scared for its life if it just handed over something like this.
She wasn't an expert crafter or enchanter, but this buckler was top notch in quality. It certainly didn't look like it from first appearances. Its slightly torn-up leather straps and scuffed metal didn't leave the best impression. However, her mana sense was able to see an incredible amount of mana and inscriptions layered over the shield.
It was something that was definitely on the upper end of Tier 3, perhaps even Tier 4 if it was in top condition. She wouldn't know the exact abilities of the shield until she took it to an evaluator or analyzer, but she could tell there was a potent defensive ability along with a repulsive attack option attached to it.
"Why are you giving this to me?" she asked him. She was no stranger to valuable items, but seeing him easily give one up surprised her.
"Because you are probably going to be the one who needs it the most," he told her bluntly.
At first, she was going to argue, but she quickly caught herself before she could stick her foot in her mouth. She hated to admit it, but he was correct about that. He was much stronger than she was and now that she had seen his healing skill, she was becoming even more convinced that his confident attitude wasn't just arrogance speaking.
With that being said, she still didn't know how he would be able to handle the boss monster who was guarding the exit. There was bound to be one, and she was just hoping that they didn't run into a very powerful one. The weaker it was, the happier she would be.
While he might be able to regenerate limbs at will, it didn't mean she could. And she was very much emotionally attached to her limbs.
***
The next group of monsters they came across were quickly dealt with by Julius. She watched as he slaughtered entire groups down without a second thought or any signs of slowing down. Julius was able to navigate their way through the labyrinth without setting off any of the traps.
She knew that he had a good perception skill, but honestly, it was getting a little bit too insane.
She had slowly become desensitized as she watched. At some point, she realized she was already subconsciously thinking of him as a Tier 3 instead of a Tier 2. That was just how strong he was.
He kind of reminded her of her cousin. Quentin was almost a dozen years older than her and she had never seen him fight for real, but she had heard stories of him taking down hordes of Tier 3 monsters as a Tier 2, much like Julius was doing.
However, unlike Julius, Quentin had the best available resources in the Empire to fuel his progression. What did Julius have? As far as Amelia was able to find out, he was a commoner who was sponsored by a vice-captain of the city guards. Not someone she would expect to have resources getting stuffed into him like a hog getting fattened for the holidays.
That being said, she was becoming even more doubtful about that information. There was no way someone like Julius was able to get this strong without someone helping him along. She had a good feeling that there was someone backing him. It might even be some old monster that is hiding away.
People of the Empire would be surprised to learn that most of the publicly known Tier 6s were less than a fraction of the actual number. However, it shouldn't be that surprising considering that Tier 6s could live for hundreds of years.
Take a look at Heston, before she came here she was informed that there were at least a dozen known Tier 6s just hiding away in the city. It wouldn't be out of the realm of possibilities if one of them had taken Julius under their wing.
She gave the boy in question a quick glance as he obliterated another pack of undead wolves, leaving exactly one for her to take care of.
Actually, I think I would be surprised if one of them hasn't already.